


Hoodie

by buckybarnesismyhusband



Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, First Kiss, Just teens, M/M, Slow Burn, awkward nerds, baby project, burning plastic isn't cool guys, get more views, i dunno guys im sorry, mentions of dumpster fires, no powers, oh these boys, please do not throw dolls into dumpster fires, totally forgot high school au is something that might help, uuuuuuhhhhhhh tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-07-15 19:44:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16070006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckybarnesismyhusband/pseuds/buckybarnesismyhusband
Summary: Steve is forced to become a parent to a plastic doll with Bucky. The two do not instantly get along, but maybe having to see each other for an entire week might change that.





	1. Seat Stealer

Steve Rogers was not a nerd but he also wasn't a jock. On a scale of prep, nerd, jock, or goth, he would sit directly in the middle. The only reason he went to school was because his mother told him he needed to get a degree and a good job so one day he could give her grandchildren. He loved his dear mom too much to be a delinquent and not go to school. Sure he enjoyed learning but it had to be his choice and something he wanted to learn about. Why there was a mandatory home ec. class he would never understand. Especially because it was required senior year over any other year they could have done it.

It was a day like any other with Steve being forced into a building he didn't want to be in, surrounded by people he had no interest in, and learning things he had no desire to learn about. Except when Natasha approached him in the hallway with a grin which meant she had news.

"Steven Grant Rogers, today is your lucky day." 

Steve closed his locker and didn't even bother to put the lock on it. "Yeah? And why is that?"

"I may have been eavesdropping on the home ec. teacher and we may or may not be starting that gross baby project."

"And why is this my luck day?"

"Well if I know and you know then we can plan to be partners. We'll get the highest A possible because you know I don't fail."

Steve hummed and shook his head a little. "If we're partners you're keeping the thing the whole time. I don't need anything in my house that could wake up my ma. She's working double shifts until they hire another nurse so she hasn't been sleeping much."

Natasha pouted a little before nodding. "Fine. But you have to spend the day with me so you at least can get come credit."

Steve mumbled an agreement and parted ways with his friend. Nat went to English this period and Steve had chemistry. Why he took chemistry he would never know other than the teacher was pretty cool and let him do whatever. They had a lot of labs over work and tests so it was pretty easy to pass. Plus the class was small so they all kept to themselves for the most part. Sam occasionally talked to Steve but it wasn't much. He almost wondered if he was trying to be his friend. The only other two people in it were Thor and Bruce. Steve wondered why in the Hell why Thor was there for a long time before realizing he and Bruce were dating and he was trying to learn something his boyfriend liked along with him. Having four people in a classroom was much better compared to the twenty or more in every other class Steve had.

"Hey Steve. I heard the theater is getting that movie you were talking about." Sam said as he sat diagonal to Steve.

The blond eyed Sam as he pulled his notebook from his backpack. "I told that to Natasha."

"I was kind of a part of that conversation. I was talking to Nat when you came running up to her screaming when the trailer came out."

"Yeah, I saw it was here too."

"So... Do you want to go to it with me?"

"Uh, not really. I don't like our movie theater." Steve mumbled as he began to write whatever the teacher was writing on the board.

Sam was perplexed by that answer and kept pushing. "Why not? It's not bad, plus you seemed really excited about this movie. I'm trying to be nice here, Steve."

Something about the way Sam said that absolutely irked something inside Steve and he snapped his head away from his notebook to glare at him. "I don't wanna fucking go."

"Language, Steve!" The teacher scolded.

Sam gathered his things and moved to a different table. Did Steve feel bad about yelling and swearing at someone who was just trying to be nice? Yes. Was he going to apologize? No. He told Sam no and he kept shoving for answers so he deserved it. Steve was fine with his small friend circle. He didn't need anyone but himself, Natasha, and Clint. He was fine with that. They always tried to get him to go out with them but also respected his answer of no. He did not need someone in his circle that did not respect that. 

Chemistry ended and Steve drug his feet to home ec.. He sat in the seat he always sat in and watched as Natasha strode into the room and sat next to him. She was overly excited for this stupid baby project and Steve hoped they got to pick partners because he didn't want to be a fake parent with anyone else. Usually in Steve's spot, nobody bothered to sit in front of him so the small blond was able to put his backpack there or his feet. Except today right when he was about to put his feet up some dude sat down. A group of other dudes sat around him, talking about some garbage Steve did not care about.

"Excuse me, I was saving this seat." Steve said as he tapped the leader dude on the shoulder.

He turned around and looked at Steve with grey eyes, looking him over before saying, "Well thanks for saving it. Guess it's mine now though."

Steve stared at the dude baffled before looking towards Natasha for help. Nat looked up as the teacher walked in carrying a large box. She looked towards Steve and grinned widely.

"I hope there's a baby that looks like me. I'm totally picking him or her first." Natasha said as the teacher began to pull out smaller boxes from the large box.

The smaller boxes said "RealCare" on the sides and Steve wanted to leave immediately. He couldn't put his feet up, Natasha wasn't helping him, and now he had to be the dad of some fake ass baby. An act of sudden rebellion hit him and he decided to kick the stranger seated in front of him, not hard enough to cause any real harm but enough to show him Steve meant business, and just glared when he turned around again.

"Do you mind?" The stranger asked.

"I mind that you're in the seat I was saving. Some people have friends you know. You're being very rude." 

"Everyone be quiet! I have an announcement to make!" The teacher yelled.

What was the teacher's name? Steve had no idea. He only showed up.

"You are all... Parents! I know everyone wants to pick their partner simply because they're best friends or you know someone that will do everything, but that is not the case here!"

Natasha looked at Steve with a sad look and Steve just looked at her dully because his feet were still on the floor and now he probably had to be partners with some weirdo.

"The first thing we're going to do is take a short test and you will be put with someone you are compatible with. And don't think you can cheat to be with your friends, only I know how the matching works. There's only a few questions so you will be able to finish this test, meet your new partner, and receive your baby today if you're all on task."

The whole room seemed to groan from this whole assignment and partnering. True to her word the test was a single, double-side sheet of paper. Steve ignored most of it and tried to do exactly what Natasha was doing in the hopes of being with her. All the dudes in front of them seemed lost because they wanted to be paired up but also not since they would fail each other. It made Steve snicker a little. The tests were rounded up after fifteen minutes and it only took Mrs. Teacher a few minutes to pair up the class. She stood from her desk and wrote the pairs on the white board before turning to the class.

"Find your partners and then I will be assigning babies."

Steve scanned the board for his name and then looked over to see who his partner was. "Who the Hell is Bucky?"

"I'm Bucky." The annoying dude in front of him said.

"Oh God no. I'd rather fucking die. Teacher! I need a new partner!" Steve yelled as he waved his arms above his head.

"How many times do I have to remind you not to swear in my classroom, Steven? You are not getting a new partner. Now stop complaining and talk to your new partner."

"I'd rather-" Steve started before he was cut off by Bucky turning to straddle his desk seat.

"You'd rather die. I get it. I want a good grade. You want a good grade. Shut up."

Steve searched the board for Natasha's name and stared at her partner's name in surprise. "When did Clint join this class?"

"He's always been in this class, dumbass." Clint said as he sat behind Natasha. "I just sit in a different spot. You kinda such at observation."

"This isn't fair. Clint should be Bucket's partner. I want Natasha."

"It's Bucky-"

"I don't care. I don't want you as my partner."

"Because I sat in the spot you were saving? Saving for who? You didn't even know your friend was in this class." Bucky said with a smirk.

"It's reserved for my feet. They go there and nobody sits there because no one ever sits there. This whole day is just ruining me. Sam tries to sit with me and ask me to the movies and now I can't put my feet up. I'm going home to die as soon as school ends." Steve said as he grabbed his backpack and stood from his seat.

"The bell doesn't ring for another twenty minutes, Steve." Natasha said softly.

Steve made a frustrated sound and threw himself back into his seat. The desk made a horrible sound as it slid across the linoleum floor. Everyone turned to look at Steve and he simply grabbed his notebook from his backpack and looked up at Bucky. Fine. They were stuck as partners. This was not going to be an easy assignment.

"Okay. Hello Bucket, I'm Steve. I like to read books and draw. My hobbies include knife collecting and art. I dislike people who sit in my reserved foot seat and loud chewers." Steve said sarcastically as he flipped through the notebook to see if there was an empty page.

"My name is Bucky. I like sciences and sports. I play soccer, baseball, football, and basketball. I don't like people who complain about pointless things for hours and people who don't make eye contact when spoken to."

"Oh you're gonna hate Steve." Clint laughed. "He loves to complain and will rarely ever make eye contact unless you did something wrong." 

"Oh fun. How the Hell do you think we got paired together?" Bucky asked as he turned to sit in his seat correctly.

"Maybe she thinks I have a thing for giant, inconsiderate assholes."

"You know what-" 

The teacher cut Bucky off by placing a box on Steve's desk. "The stork has delivered!"

Steve stared at the box like it would eat him at any second so Bucky grabbed the box and opened it himself. He pulled out a fake baby dressed in a blue onesie and set it down on Steve's desk. The baby had light skin with black hair and blue-grey eyes. It was surprisingly the perfect mix of the two which made Steve hate it more.

"The ugly thing needs a name. It should be something gross. Let's just name him Goblin because that's what he is." Steve said as he turned the baby from side to side.

"We have to pretend to like this baby, Steve. He needs a normal name. How about Leo?"

"No. He isn't a Leo. He's a Libra. So according to that star garbage he will be kind. He needs a kind and gentle name. Something that can be shortened into a cute nickname for all the friends he'll have." Steve rambled as he picked up the baby and watched in horror as its head flew back.

"Oh yeah, thanks for doing that Steve." The teacher commented as she set a sheet of paper on the desk. "The heads fly back just like a regular baby's would. When they are activated you will need to be very careful of the neck. This paper I am handing out needs the baby's name and the parents' names. It's kind of like instructions but it's mostly on how to properly care for a newborn because I hope none of you have experience with that."

"Nikolas is a good name."

Steve set the baby on back on the desk. "Niki. Similar to the Greek goddess Nike. Victory. I like Nikolas. Write it down so I don't spell it wrong."

"You're just a walking encyclopedia. How many Greek gods and goddesses do you just know off hand?" Bucky asked as he filled out the sheet.

"I took mythology last year. Twice. The teacher liked me and told the counselor it was okay. I know plenty of mythology to keep you entertained for days."

"Might take you up on that since we get the baby for an entire week. So Nikolas Barnes. Beautiful baby boy."

"Woah woah woah. Why your last name?"

"I don't know yours."

Steve grabbed the sheet from Bucky and hyphenated his last name on the baby's name. "Nikolas Grant Barnes-Rogers."

"Yeah sure. Do you want to hang out after school or something today so we can discuss baby plans?"

"I guess. I live down the road so I would suggest my house." Steve said as he tried to carefully lift the baby this time.

"Just give me your number. My mom saved all our baby clothes for some reason and I'm not letting Nikolas be in the same onesie for an entire week. He's going to look cute."

Steve snorted as he cradled the doll. "Yeah whatever."

Bucky grabbed his phone from his backpack and entered Steve's number as he said it to him. The teacher eventually wandered back over and checked over their paper. She grabbed the doll from Steve and opened the onesie to put the key in. She turned the doll on and handed it back to Steve.

"Be careful. He will respond to everything you do now. Good luck."

Steve rolled his eyes and looked down at the doll. "So I guess I'll take him first since you're coming to my house. If you don't show up I want a divorce."

Bucky laughed and nodded. "Just text me the address after school. I'll be there I promise."

"Better be. I might already have the divorce papers on hand. You never know."

Bucky laughed again as the bell rang. He walked out with his group of dudes and Steve walked out with Natasha and Clint. Clint was holding their baby very carefully and trying not to let anyone bump into him. The baby looked like neither of them and had very dark skin, hair, and eyes. 

"These baby have limited look options I guess. It's cool though. She's still my baby."

"Our baby." Clint huffed.

"It's not like it matters. It isn't real. Nikolas is just fake and I could easily throw him into a dumpster fire and he would melt. Because he's plastic. But I wouldn't do that because I love him. I hate myself for it." Steve looked down at the doll as it made a sound.

"Yeah don't throw it in a dumpster fire. You'd probably have to buy a new one and I'm pretty sure these are super expensive for no reason."

Steve shrugged. "It's just a plastic baby. It's not like people could grow attached to it. Easily could throw one into a dumpster fire."

"Steve you are never allowed to babysit when I have real kids." Clint said as he glanced over his shoulder to look at him.

"I wouldn't throw a real kid into a dumpster fire! There's jail consequences for that. I wouldn't do well in jail. I barely do well at school."

Natasha stopped and grabbed Steve's arm, watching as Clint continued on to his class. "Hey, you said Sam tried to ask you to the movies earlier? Did you tell him yes?"

"Why would I tell him yes? I don't know him. I wouldn't want to go to the movies with him."

"Why not? You've been dying to see this movie since they announced they were making one."

"I don't like movie theaters. I can't put my feet up without getting yelled at, I can't bring in my own snacks without getting in trouble, and I can never hear them anyways because people talk."

Natasha was skeptical of that answer but released Steve's arm. "Fine. I thought you two would be compatible. Have fun in the rest of your classes with Nikolas."

Steve carried the baby through the rest of his classes. It didn't cry at all and only made the occasional cooing sound. Maybe they got lucky and this baby was on an easy setting. He hoped that was the case because handling crying babies was not something he knew how to do. Nikolas was quiet the whole walk home and didn't make a peep as Steve set him down on the couch so he could make himself a snack. He sat next to the doll as he turned on the TV. He waited for Bucky to text him, growing more and more frustrated as time went on. He fell asleep waiting for a boy to text him that never did.


	2. Empty Apology

Steve was not lucky at all and Nikolas kept crying all night. It cried while he made himself dinner, it cried as he did his homework, it cried while he took a shower, it cried as soon as he set it down on the bed so he could go to sleep, the damn thing cried to much he wanted to throw it out the window. He wasn't able to sleep at all because he was just waiting for the next time the stupid doll would cry. When he went to school in the morning it was with a large cup of coffee in one hand and the other trying to make sure the demonic baby was upright. He had a look on his face that made everyone part in front of him as he headed to class.

"Steve! Hey!" 

He didn't even bother to stop for the voice because he knew who it was and he had no desire to see him. So instead he hurried to the chemistry room and hid at his table. The person didn't follow him so he set the doll on the table and grabbed his notebook from his backpack. Bruce and Thor were whispering to each other with smiles on their faces. 

"Good morning." Steve said so they'd stop staring at each other like they were each other's Moon.

"Good morning, Steve! I heard today's lab is making ice cream! I was telling Bruce about how excited I am. I could eat an entire gallon to myself." Thor said as he looked at the blond.

"I'm lactose intolerant." 

"That's terrible. I don't think I could live without ice cream." Thor said with fear in his eyes.

"They make lactos free ice cream, Thor." Bruce said softly.

"Oh thank goodness." Thor said with a laugh.

Sam walked into the classroom and sat away from Steve. They stared at each other for a moment before Nikolas made a sound which made Steve panic and look at the baby. It didn't start crying which almost made him cry tears or joy. He patted the doll's cheek gently before looking at his notebook again. He had started a sketch of the doll yesterday at one point while he was waiting for Bucket to text him. It looked okay except it was very clearly of a doll and not a baby which was a little unnerving. He wished he had something to color it with so he could make it look a little more real and a little less like it was about to come to life and stab you in the appendix.

A paper airplane soared across the room and landed near Nikolas. Steve ignored it at first because he figured he knew it was. He pretended to be more invested in his creepy looking drawing. He broke down eventually and opened it while the teacher was talking about their ice cream lab. It just said I'm sorry and he knew exactly who it was from and decided to stare him in the eyes as he slowly crumbled the piece of paper. Sam stared at Steve in disbelief before shaking his head and looking back to the teacher. Steve didn't care about this lab because he couldn't eat the ice cream anyways. He didn't feel like going home again with the demon baby.

He ended up giving his ice cream to Thor who nearly cried for Steve not being able to eat it and because he loved ice cream so much. Steve carried his empty coffee cup and the Hell spawn to his locker and tried to decide which to throw in. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone lean against the locker next to his but ignored it in favor of dropping off his coffee cup. The child of Beelzebub resting carefully on his hip as he exchanged books.

"You can't ignore me forever. I'm sorry."

Steve slammed his locker shut and glared at Bucky. "You don't get to be sorry. You didn't deal with a fucking possessed doll all night while waiting for someone to text that never did! You're taking the thing right now and keeping it until I see you tomorrow and then maybe I'll consider taking it back."

Steve shoved Nikolas into Bucky's arms and stormed to home ec. He put his feet up on the seat in front of him as soon as he sat down and refused to move them when Bucky walked in. His partner sat behind him and kept quiet. Steve closed his eyes as he waited for the bell to ring. Natasha sat in her spot next to Steve and looked at the duo.

"My God you look horrible. Tough first night with the baby?" She asked jokingly.

"I will personally throw myself out the goddamn window if you mention the demon doll. I am done already." Steve muttered, not opening his eyes.

Clint sat behind Natasha and looked at Steve. "Glad to see there was no dumpster fires on the way to or from your house. Your baby is in one piece."

Steve snapped his eyes open and pulled his feet from the chair, whipping around to look at Clint. "I'm going to stab you, Clint. Sleep your eyes open. Your mother will not be spared from the gore of it."

"Jokes on you, mom's outta town. Barney has to see it and he'd probably only check in my room when it started to smell like death."

"Had it not been for the laws of this land, I would have slaughtered you by now."

"Can't meme your way out of this, Steve. Talk about your feelings." 

Steve buried his face in his hands, groaning loudly. "I'm just so tired. The antichrist didn't sleep at all last night so I didn't sleep at all. The amount of coffee I've drank since I got out of bed could kill a rhino. I forgot to eat breakfast because the thing kept crying and I had to figure out what was wrong. I don't want any kids in the future, I just want dogs."

"Steve... I'm so sorry. You should have called me-" Bucky started.

"You didn't text me! I didn't have your number! The divorce papers will be in your locker tomorrow. I'm leaving you for Clint. He has a dog."

"Hey now, I can barely take care of myself and Lucky. How am I going to add you in there, Steven?"

"We'll figure it out after the wedding, Clint."

"You two are horrible. We all know Clint is going to marry a dog trainer so Lucky stops acting like a ditz and can be a dog instead of a toddler." Natasha added as she turned to look at Clint.

Clint shrugged his shoulders in defeat and crossed his arms over his chest. Steve shook his head before setting it down on his desk and closing his eyes once again. He grumbled in annoyance as his phone went off, showing a text from an unknown number that simply said, "I'm sorry," with a bunch of random Emojis. Steve ignored it for now in favor of taking a short nap. He startled awake when one of the babies began to cry and began to panic as he could not find his own little Nikolas.

"Relax, it's not ours crying. Go back to sleep you nerd." Bucky said softly.

"Don't tell me to relax until you've had Mephistopheles personally wake you up at some ungodly hour with his banshee screams." Steve complained as he stared at Nikolas's empty, unforgiving eyes.

"Do you know Satan at a personal enough level to keep using all these synonyms for his name?" 

"Yes. He's a lot nicer than everyone says."

"Doubt that. You two must just be too alike to disagree. I'll come over today for sure, I promise. And now you can call me if I don't." 

"Yeah? I'm gonna trace your calls and texts so I can break into your house and stab you too. I'm still upset with you, Bucket. This means nothing." Steve threatened softly with a glare.

Bucky rolled his eyes and settled in his seat to pay attention to the teacher. She seemed to not care about Steve sleeping and continued to talk about baby care and what not until the bell rang. Steve stood from his seat and headed out, Bucky following close behind him.

"Hey, I really am sorry I didn't text you last night. Something came up family wise, I forgot."

"Mmhmm. Right. I believe you as far as I can throw you. Now had I said Nikolas I would trust you a lot because I want to throw that doll as far as possible, but I can't throw you at all. Get it?"

"You are so difficult. Just accept my apology you idiot."

"I'll accept your apology when I'm dead!"

"God you're annoying. As soon as this stupid baby project is over I never want to talk to you again."

"I completely agree!"

"Good!"

Bucky and Steve would have been face to face if not for the height difference but they were very close and glaring at each other. Natasha walked past them and snorted at their stance. If she didn't know Steve she would just imagine this scene like any teen movie would go at they would kiss and make up. But Steve refused to live in any sort of movie but a kickass action movie where he was the hero and was allowed to kick everyone's asses. She didn't know Bucky well but judging how the bell was about to ring and they would both be late to their respective classes, she imagined he was the same. They kept their glares up until the bell rang and then Bucky looked away.

"You know what? I'm treating you to dinner tonight. Us and the doll. Pick somewhere you wanna eat and tell me. I gotta go before I get in trouble. Again." Bucky smirked and quickly pecked Steve on the check before running to class.

Steve blinked a few times before wiping off his cheek and storming to class. Who the Hell did Bucket think he was? Kissing his cheek in the hallway like that. What did he think they were? Dating?! Actually married?! The rest of his day was now ruined. Bucky's wasn't and he happily carried Nikolas to the locker rooms. He wouldn't get yelled at because they always got time to dress out before they had to go to the weight room. Bucky changed into his shorts and tshirt before picking up Nikolas and carrying him into the weight room. Sam and Thor had beat him there as usual and called him over to where they were. Bucky set Nikolas down nearby and began to stretch with them.

"You're late, Barnes. Making out with your girlfriend?" Sam teased.

"Nah, more like my pretend husband. Steve was getting all pissy so I had to piss him off more. He's kinda cute when he's mad."

Thor laughed. "He is always mad. Bruce told me he once started a fight because this kid wouldn't stop talking during a movie once. He's banned from the only theater in town. How sad."

"God, no wonder he didn't want to go to the movie with me. He literally cannot go in there." Sam said with a chuckle. 

"Probably didn't want to go with you because he isn't into men, Sam. Although I would have thought you'd be excused from that since you're only a small boy." Bucky teased.

Sam looked Bucky dead in the eye with an unimpressed look and said, "We're the same height, Buck. Short jokes don't work on me."

"I can make them though. I am the tallest one here." Thor bragged as he flexed his biceps.

Bucky and Sam both laughed at that. The class went by as usual and Nikolas didn't cry once. Bucky was starting to believe Steve had been lying simply so he was forced to take the doll from him. Maybe he had a fear of dolls he hadn't told anyone about and he wasn't sleeping because he was afraid of it coming to life. Spooky. Bucky carried Nikolas around the rest of the day and decided he needed to see if there was a carseat around his house so he didn't have to watch the stupid doll's head all day. The final bell rang and Bucky booked it to Steve's locker. The blond showed up a little after him and glared at the smile he was offered.

"What do you want?" Steve asked angrily as he opened his locker and dropped his stuff off.

"I want to spend time with my beautiful wife."

Steve looked around before looking at Bucky. "Yeah? Go find her then. I'm going home to take a nap."

Bucky snorted. "You're my wife. I'll drive you home. We can go over those papers for the baby together. And it'll be easier for me to make sure you're awake so we can go to dinner."

Steve pretended to gag and slammed his locker shut. "Fine. But only because we have to deal with each other for three more days for this dumb baby."

Bucky grinned because his plan worked and pulled Steve along to his car. It wasn't anything impressive because he was paying for it by himself but it got him where he needed to go. He opened the passenger door and watched as Steve threw himself into the seat. He set Nikolas in his lap before going to the driver's side door and getting in. Steve had his arms around the doll and his eyes closed. Bucky shook his head.

"I don't know where you live, asshole."

"Turn right to leave the parking lot and then it's the only blue house on that side of the street. You can park in the driveway, mom won't be home until late tonight. There's also plants all along the house and a big ol' tree in the front. Hard to miss." Steve mumbled as he cuddled with the doll.

Bucky stared at him for a moment before starting his car and following the extremely vague directions he was given. He couldn't have given him street names or the house number? Something that would have been much easier than describing the house to him? He was right though and it seemed like the theme of this area was ugly, old brown tones for houses. There were a few others with flower beds but none of them compared to what he could only assume was Steve's house from his shitty directions.

The house was a pale blue with flowerbeds all around the house growing various flowers. The "big ol' tree" was ginormous and even had a swing hanging from one of its branches. Bucky parked in the driveway as told and looked over at Steve. His eyes were still closed and his soft breathing was blowing against Nikolas's fake head of hair. He didn't even want to wake him and he didn't have to because Steve yawned and then opened his eyes. He looked over at Bucky who was still staring at him.

"Did you find it alright, weirdo? Are you gonna start stalking me now? You're looking at me like we're actually married or something. Sicko." Steve got out of the car and pulled his keys from his pocket to unlock the front door.

Bucky stumbled behind him, sounds of protest escaping his mouth as he tried to think of an excuse. He gave up as Steve ignored him and just walked into the house. He follow behind him and toed off his shoes like the blond in front of him. He looked around the small entry way and noted how few pairs of shoes there was.

"Man, my mom and sister own our entry way. They both have their own racks of shoes and hooks filled with different kinds of jackets and coats." Bucky said as he pulled off his jacket and hung it up on one of the empty hooks.

"I keep my shit in my room." Steve called from a different room. "Mom doesn't wear that many shoes. She keeps most of her jackets and coats at the hospital so she doesn't bring anything unnecessary home. It's a little ironic a RN has a son with a compromised immune system. I feel like it was kind of a kick to the teeth but she's told me it isn't."

Bucky wandered into the living room and looked at all the pictures hanging. Most of them were of Steve from varying ages but none below his fourteenth birthday. He only knew that because of them was of Steve holding a cake that said, "Happy 14th Birthday Steve!" There was some baby ones but very few. There was some of who Bucky was assuming was Steve's mom. She looked very similar to her son with the same eye color and fair skin. Her hair was a little darker blonde though. And then there was only a handful of Steve's presumed dad. Bucky picked up a frame of the man in some sort of military uniform. Steve appeared from whatever room he was in and grabbed the frame from Bucky before putting it back in its spot.

"Do you always go in people's houses and touch their shit without permission? What if you had broken that frame?" Steve asked with a huff.

Bucky stared at Steve before looking at the picture. "I would have cleaned up the mess and offered to buy a new one."

"He made that one. Weird hobby he had I guess. Most of these he made. That one's mom's favorite."

"Well then I don't know, Steve. I can't pay for memories or feelings. My bad. I got curious and looked around. I didn't think I'd get yelled at for looking at a picture."

Steve opened his mouth to yell at him before closing it. There seemed to be no reasoning with the oaf. He walked away from Bucky and sat down on the couch. It looked more like he was laying down because his head was on the arm rest but he wasn't fully laying. He also wasn't fully sitting though. Leaning maybe. Bucky sat on the other end of the couch and looked at him.

"So. Where'd you put Nikolas?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.

"In the oven. He's melting as we speak."

Bucky rolled his eyes and got up from the couch. He looked around the house as Steve took a nap. He found the doll on the kitchen counter and carried him around with him. He found Steve's room and true to his word all of his shit was in there. It was a terrifying mess. There was clothes everywhere, shoes everywhere, empty plastic bottles all over. Bucky would be murdered by his mother if his room ever looked like that. He stumbled upon the bathroom and a small closet in the hallway between another bedroom and the bathroom. He guess that bedroom was Steve's parents' room and didn't open the door. He remembered a door in the kitchen and headed back there to see what that door was. Unsurprisingly it went to the backyard and Bucky sat on the steps for a little bit. His house was much larger than Steve's, but there was also a few more people in it. He wished he lived like this some days. Just himself. Steve wasn't technically alone, but judging from how he talked he usually was.

Bucky stood from the steps and headed back in to find Steve looking into the fridge. He wasn't acknowledged as he sat down at the small dinner table and not when Steve caught him staring again. The blond ignored him in favor of grabbing a plastic cup from the cupboard and then a carton of almond milk from the fridge. Then he was acknowledged.

"Want anything to drink?"

"Uh- No thanks. I'm good."

"Hmm. You look around my house and then refuse my good hosting skills? You, Mr. Barnes, are rude as Hell."

"Or I'm just not thirsty. I wasn't going to watch you take a nap, weirdo. And I had to find Nikolas to make sure you didn't actually put him in the oven."

Steve snorted as he took a sip from his cup and put the carton back into the fridge. "I wouldn't actually do that. What is with everyone thinking my threats to these dolls is serious?

"You also threatened to stab Clint in the throat and just me in general after breaking into my house." Bucky pointed out as he set Nikolas on the table.

"I wouldn't hurt my friends." Steve mumbled.

"Are we friends now?" Bucky asked with a hint of hope.

Steve pretended to gag again. "God. I guess. I don't want to hate you if we have to hang out the rest of this week. I also don't like you. You're right in the middle. I could live without you. If anything happens and I have to pick Nikolas or you, I am absolutely saving that ugly piece of plastic."

Bucky laughed and leaned back in the chair, watching Steve as he put away the dishes. It felt as if they were a domestic couple and he almost hated himself for thinking that. Steve was adorable though. The way his nose would wrinkle when he said something sarcastic, his dimples Bucky had only seen when he was napping in the car, how he seemed to love this plastic baby more than anything else. Was he in love or just infatuated? He didn't know but he didn't mind either way. He just hoped Steve would feel the same way some day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man this looked like so much until I put it on here. Anyway, after this chapter hopefully the ball will start rolling for these two dorks. Or maybe something will happen with Sam. Your guess is as good as mine at this point. I am definitely keeping Bucky's nickname as Bucket because I have wrote it several times by accident so it's permanent now.


	3. Dinner Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I shouldn't apologize for this being so late but I still am. College was kinda crazy this last week so I didn't get a lot of time to write. This isn't as good as it probably could've been until towards the end. Anyways. Enjoy the two hormone filled boys being dumb.

Steve made Bucky stay at the table so they could look over some of the papers they were given yesterday. He had already read them but he wanted to make sure Bucky did too so they would get a good grade. A lot of it he seemed to know though so Steve wasn't really too worried about it. They chatted about likes and dislikes as Bucky skimmed over the papers. Steve noticed from sitting so close to him that he smelled faintly of smoke and body spray. 

"-so I've got Becca in my arms, trying to claw away so she can keep kicking the kid for shoving her. The boy's mom is holding him because he's crying and she's trying to say it's all Bec's fault. And I can't say it isn't because who the Hell would have thought a toddler would want to kick the shit out of someone for pushing them down? But he also shouldn't have pushed my sister! I was like six dealing with all this bullshit. Why are toddlers so aggressive and why was that mom expecting me to be in control of my sister? Anyway, I don't really want kids in the future because other people's kids ruined it. I like my sisters and my cousins, but that's about it." Bucky finished his long rant.

Steve snorted out a laugh. "You're so stupid. Kids are okay. I want like one or two and then I'd be happy. Having none just sounds lame."

"Nah man, kids suck. Bec's in that terrible two stage or whatever except she's like fourteen and is just an asshole. I love her but she's ridiculous. You'll have to come over to my house and meet her some time this week."

"Maybe I should. She sounds hilarious." Steve mused as he looked at Bucky.

Bucky had pulled his phone from his pocket and was reading something, his brows furrowing ever slightly. He glanced up at Steve and smiled when he caught him staring. "It's getting late, wanna go eat some dinner now? My treat. You can pick anywhere you'd like."

Steve had quickly looked away after Bucky caught him and was staring at Nikolas who was suspiciously quiet. "Uh- I like pizza. Except it makes me sick, so maybe not pizza..."

"You can decide in the car if you want. Drive around and see if anything sounds good." Bucky offered as he stood from the chair.

"Sure." Steve rubbed his eyes as he stood from his chair.

They walked to the front door together and got on their shoes and coats before heading out the door. They were seated and buckled in Bucky's car before Steve screamed and scrambled out.

"We forgot Nikolas!" He yelled as he ran back into his house.

Bucky laughed as he watched Steve panic and almost hit the door because they had forgotten their plastic child. The blond returned after a few minutes with the doll swaddled in a blanket and a different coat on. He was huffing a little as he sat back down in Bucky's car and held the doll close to his chest.

"Is our son okay?" Bucky asked jokingly.

"Shut up. I can't believe we forgot the baby. We'd be horrible real parents. Our children would be forgotten everywhere. God we suck." Steve mumbled as he buckled back up.

Bucky couldn't get over Steve saying "our children" and stalled in the driveway for a moment before finally pulling out. They drove with just the radio making sounds and the occasional baby sound from Nikolas. 

"So what did you want to eat then? I dunno about you but I am awfully hungry." Bucky said to break the silence.

"I offered you food at my house." Steve pointed out.

"I didn't want to ruin my appetite before our date." Bucky joked as he focused on the road.

Steve snorted softly and looked out the window. "Have you ever ate at that diner that's towards the end of town? I can't remember the name but it has really good food."

"Please anywhere but there."

"Oh? I thought I was picking, not you. We're eating there now."

"I will pay you money to not make me eat there."

"Nope. That's what I want."

"You're so mean." Bucky said with a pout as he headed to the diner.

Winnie's Diner was run and owned by Bucky's lovely mother. Her food was beyond comprehension from how good it was and the portions were too big for most people to finish alone. The problem? If she didn't personally hound them on their "date" then Becca would. Bucky parked in front of the small diner and looked at Steve in distress. He didn't care though and got out of the car eagerly, carrying Nikolas close. Bucky whined as he followed behind him. Steve tried to sit at a booth but Bucky grabbed his wrist and pulled him to a table.

"Hey! I like the booths!"

"This is where I always sit. Momma or Bec should be over as soon as one of them sees us. This is one of the few places the kitchen can see directly and gets the best service." Bucky said in a matter-of-fact tone.

True to his word a petite girl with dark brown hair and grey eyes approached them. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a pink shirt with the diner's logo on it. "Hello Bucky, the special today for you is garbage because you forgot to take it out last night. For your friend here the special is actually-"

"Becca, this is Steve. He's my partner for the baby project you'll have to do in a few years." Bucky interrupted his sister rudely.

"Oh! Hi, Steve! I'm Bucky's lovely little sister, Rebecca. He's probably talked about me because I'm the best." Becca said with a grin, revealing a set of braces.

"Hi." Steve said softly.

"I forgot to even get you guys menus, gimme a sec." 

Bucky laughed as he watched his sister skitter away before looking at Steve. "Told you she's ridiculous. This was the family emergency I was talking about by the way. Mom made me come work and I tried my hardest to get out of it but she cannot be persuaded."

"It's fine. I wasn't really mad about you not showing up. I mean I was upset, but I was mad at Nikolas more for crying so much." 

Rebecca returned and set menus in front of them. "What do you want to drink my friends?"

"Coke, please."

"You can't do coke Bucky, ma will kill you." Rebecca teased before looking at Steve.

"Just a water." He said softly.

"I'll be back in a sec with your drinks. Don't miss me too much."

Bucky snorted as his sister walked away and looked at Steve. "Everything here is great and it ain't 'cause I'm biased or anything. It's just really good. Ma makes the best everything."

"I usually cook at my house since mom works late... I'm not really hungry though-"

Bucky gasped loudly and clutched his chest. "You can't force me to bring you here and then not even want to eat! That's borderline torture. You gotta eat something, or at least order something to take home for your mom."

"Fine, but only because it's funny watching you and your sister talk to each other." Steve mocked with a smile.

"Oh ha ha. You don't have a sister. She's crazy. You're just lucky it wasn't my ma talking to us. She'd never let us leave." Bucky said as he buried his face into the menu.

"I would love to meet your ma." Steve said simply as he looked over his own menu. 

Bucky shook his head. "You're jinxing it man. Now she's gonna appear."

Steve snorted a laugh as Becca approached their table with cups in her hands.

"Coke for the loser, water for the cute boy." She said with a wink.

"He's too old for you, Bec. Date someone your own age." Bucky huffed.

Steve blushed and covered his face with the menu as the siblings squabbled. The only person he ever heard argue about his cuteness was his mom because he said he was ugly once so of course she had to try to throw hands with her own kid about how adorable he is. Having two people he didn't really know talk about it made him uncomfortable. 

"Steve? Steven?" Bucky asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

He lowered the menu only slightly so he could look at Bucky. "What?"

"What do you want to eat you dork?" He asked with a slight chuckle.

"Oh. Uh." Steve glanced over the menu again, telling himself to order something he hadn't had yet. "I'll just get chicken strips with fries." Failed step one.

"Ma will probably be bringing this out, I mentioned Bucky was here with a cute boy." Becca said with a wink and smile as she took the menus and then disappeared into the kitchen.

Bucky sat awkwardly, sipping his soda and avoiding eye contact with Steve. It was a mutual avoidance since now it felt weird because of Becca's comments. Thankfully Nikolas started screaming and Steve reached for him. Except maybe not thankfully because Bucky did the same thing and they basically had a stare down about who had to handle the baby. Bucky won because Steve was over the Satan doll and instead crossed his arms over his chest as Bucky tried to figure out what was wrong. 

"I swear it's possessed. Like Annabelle. We need to see if the Warrens are still in business. They could add another thing to their collection." Steve said as he stared into the doll's cold, dead eyes.

"It's just a battery operated doll, Steve. It has commands. It isn't possessed." Bucky shot back wearily.

Steve scoffed. "Tell me that after the thing cries all night. Nonstop. Can't even get up to go pee without bringing it along. It has abandonment issues if it isn't possessed."

"You shouldn't talk about our baby like that, Steve. Nikolas is just a baby. Babies cry a lot. They can't talk yet. And this is a doll. Again."

Steve shook his head a little before resting his cheeks in his hands. Elbows off the table didn't apply until the food was in front of you, right? Plus he needed an excuse to stare at Bucky cuddling the demon. Maybe this assignment wasn't so bad...

"Alrighty boys" Winnifred said as she approached the table, "I decided you both needed some soup since it's chilly out."

"Thanks, ma. Ma, this is Steve. We're partners for the weird baby assignment our teacher is forcing us to do. Steve this my my ma."

Steve looked up at Winnifred and offered his hand. She smiled widely as she shook his hand.

"Hello, ma'am." Steve said softly.

"Oh my. He even has manners. Your momma must've raised you right, sweetheart. It's a pleasure to meet you. Your food will be out shortly, I just thought you'd appreciate a nice, hot bowl of soup too." 

"Well your tomato soup is the best, ma. We appreciate it." Bucky said with a hum.

"Thank you." Steve said as soon as Bucky was done talking.

Winnifred smiled at the duo and ruffled Bucky's hair before walking back to the kitchen. Becca was leaning by the door and raised her eyebrows when her mom walked back.

"Well? Do you think they're dating or something? Buck would've told us." 

"Dating? No. Could they be? Probably. We all know Bucky has a thing for blondes, male or female. He's a sweet boy though. I'd be okay with it."

"Right? He's so shy too. Exactly Bucky's type. I just want him to be happy after you know who left. He hasn't been the same since..." Becca finished softly.

"I know. Now go do your job. I don't pay you to gossip about your brother." Winnifred teased.

Becca pouted but grabbed the boys' plates and carried them out. "Okay nerd and cute boy, here's your food. Chicken tenders for the sweetheart, and a big ol' plate of trash for the trash boy."

Steve again had no idea had to react to Becca and whispered a thanks as he stared down at his food. Bucky's own plate did not have trash but a large burger with an equally large stack of fries. The two ate quietly and awkwardly, enjoying their food. The doll didn't cry again as they ate. More like Bucky ate and Steve picked at his fries. Buck's plate was empty by the time Becca came around to check on them. 

"Jesus, Buck. Is ma starving you on the down low? I walked away like five minutes ago."

"I'm a hungry boy, Bec. Ask ma if I can have dessert too."

Becca rolled her eyes and grabbed his dishes before leaving again.

"I wish I had a sibling. It's so boring being alone at my house all day." Steve admitted after a moment.

"It's okay. Sometimes we fight and that's not fun. I'm just waiting for her to hunt me down at school now because she knows we're friends. She's never gonna leave you alone, man. I'm so sorry. She's like a leech that has a crush on all my friends. She's still in love with Thor even though he is obviously head over heels for Banner." Bucky rambled.

Steve nearly choked on his water as he started laugh, spilling water not only on his lap but also all over his coat. "Oh my God. She's going to be so disappointed."

Bucky started laughing too as he tried to offer Steve his napkin so he could dry himself off. They laughed for a good while before Becca came over with washcloths.

"I walk away for two seconds. You guys are grounded. Ma said no dessert anyways. She said there's still cake at the house you need to eat." Becca said as she handed Steve the washcloths.

Steve's laughter tampered off as he tried his best to dry himself off. Bucky tried to contain his laughter as he watched him. Becca crossed her arms over her chest as she watched them.

"Mom said you working yesterday pays for your food. You're not getting paid. Bye boys." She said before skipping away.

The two sat quietly as Steve dampened washcloth after washcloth trying to dry his coat and pants. "I'm gonna freeze as soon as we go outside. I'm gonna die."

Bucky snorted as he stood from the table. "You'll be fine. She forgot to ask if you wanted a box so I'm gonna go grab you one."

Steve set the washcloths on the table and watched as Bucky walked behind the counter. His coat and pants were still pretty wet and he was already getting a chill from it. He was dreading going outside even though it wasn't that cold out. He just hated being cold because it took him forever to warm back up.

Bucky walked back over to the table and set the styrofoam container next to Steve's plate. "Alrighty, pack that up and then I can take you home or whatever. I mean, I do have cake at my house if you want to come over and have a piece..."

Steve transferred his plate into the container. "I'm so sorry, I don't feel so good. I need to get home anyways, my mom should be done with her shift soon and I like to be home when she gets there."

Bucky's face dropped but he nodded and began to head to the door. Steve felt horrible both physically and mentally. They got into Bucky's car and he drove them back to Steve's house. Bucky parked in the driveway and stared forward. Steve glanced towards Bucky.

"Thanks." He said softly as he reached for the door handle.

Bucky wasn't entirely sure what compelled him to do what he did next; Could have been teenage hormones or very confused feelings. Either way, he turned in his seat and grabbed Steve's face. The blond was about to say something but was cut off by Bucky's lips crashing into his. It was a horribly awkward kiss but neither really cared. Steve had never kissed anyone before and Bucky was so full of weird, teenage emotions. Steve was the one that pulled away. He scrambled out of the car and practically ran to his front door. Bucky stared at the empty seat before pulling away to go to his own house, worried about what he just did.


	4. Unrequited Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow am I bad with consistency or what? Oh well college is a mess right now.

When Steve saw Bucky the next morning he knew he had suffered as he had. The doll was laying in a car seat swaddled in a light blue blanket and a pale green hat covering his plastic head. Bucky on the other hand was wearing a pair of joggers and a sweatshirt, his hair a mess and bags under his eyes. Steve shut his locker and smiled cheekily.

"Good morning, sweetheart. How was the baby?"

Bucky looked up at Steve with a tired glare. "Ma said neither of us cried as much as this doll. Why does he cry so much at night but not at all during the day?"

"I dunno. It's only Wednesday though. Keep him for the rest of the day, we'll switch after last bell." Steve suggested as he started to head to class.

"Yeah. Wanna hang out again? It's only fair since we are pretending to be married." Bucky joked as he followed after Steve.

"Uh- Not today. I have a really bad headache. I'm only staying until home ec. and then I'm heading out... Which I forgot about so I guess if you wanna drop the baby off at my house after school. We could maybe hang out for a little bit."

"Right, yeah. That's fine. See you later." Bucky said quickly before continuing to his first class.

A headache? Right. He was probably mad at him for kissing him last night and just needed a lame ass excuse because he can't own up to his own emotions. Maybe Bucky couldn't own up to his own emotions because that made him unreasonably mad. He didn't know anybody in his first period class well enough to sit near or talk to any of them so he just continued to brew in his unnecessary anger. Being upset over something so stupid was honestly a waste of time but all Bucky had at this point was time. He had thought about it all last night whenever Nikolas woke him up.

He had kissed Steve on impulse while they were paired together to take care of a plastic baby. Was it the best thing he'd ever done on impulse? Yes and no. He thought at the time it was a good idea because that's what always happens in the movies Becca watched. The two main characters bonded over something and then the boy kissed the girl and they were a thing presumably forever after that. It always worked out.

Except this was real life and not some stupid movie. Bucky's action had its own consequence it it seemed to be Steve avoiding him. Which really hurt because it seemed like they were really starting to get along. Compared to the first day of them actually meeting anything would seem like progress unless one murdered the other. Steve would probably murder Bucky. Buck would put up a good fight but Steve was too used to picking fights with people bigger than him so he'd know exactly how to take him down. Little shit probably carried a knife on his person at all times. Now Bucky was making himself a little scared of his fake husband.

The bell rang and Bucky almost fell out of his chair from the sound. At least he shared his next class with Natasha. He could probably ask her about Steve's fake headache to find out about why he was lying. She was already seated at a desk when Bucky walked in and he sat down right next to her. 

"Hey, Nat."

"What's up? Ready for another boring day of being forced to learn math we will never use again after this class ends?"

"You know I love math. Kinda need it to be an engineer of any kind."

Natasha nodded a little and hummed. "I don't need it to be an assassin. I just need to know how to seduce and kill."

"How would you kill them? Poison? Need math to know how much will be affective unless you just use a shit ton. They might be able to smell it or taste it though and seek help. Long distance shot? Math. Stabbing I guess would just be anatomy except you'd need to know some physics to make sure you use enough force and the correct angle."

"Shut up. I don't like math but I'm good at it. In case you forgot I'm so close to beating Stark for valedictorian. I'm going to kick his ass for it and then I'm going to say fuck in my graduation speech. Would Stark say fuck? Probably; but I'm much cooler than he is and everyone would cheer for me whereas he'd have his little geek squad."

Bucky stared at Natasha in disbelief before shaking his head with a laugh. "You've really got this thought out huh? I'm impressed. You get valedictorian and kick his ass. I don't know if you meant physically or metaphorically but I'd be down to see both if possible."

"I could snap him like a twig."

"I think just about anyone could. He does not take care of himself very well."

They hushed their conversation as the teacher walked into the classroom. He lectured about whatever they were meant to be learning, Bucky had lost interest a while ago but he knew enough to have it covered. He remembered what he was going to ask Natasha when he saw a kid use their hand to pretend to shoot themselves.

"Hey, have you talked to Steve today?" He whispered.

"Of course. He's like my son." She whispered back.

"He get headaches often and are they usually bad?"

"Usually. He doesn't come to school sometimes because he gets migraines and says the lights in the building hurt his eyes too much. Why? Did he say he had a headache to you?" Natasha looked away from the board to glance at Bucky, a worried look on her face.

"Yes. He's going home after third period he said. I just didn't think it was that bad."

"It depends. It's probably nothing, just getting sick. I'll go hunt him down." Natasha said softly before throwing her hand up.

"Yes, Natasha?" The teacher asked when he finally turned around.

"May I use the restroom?" She asked as she picked up her bag.

The teacher shook his head a little as he turned to focus on the board again. "Go fast."

Natasha winked at Bucky before standing from her desk and walking out of the classroom. Steve had chemistry this period and she occasionally sat down in it because the teacher didn't mind as long as she was quiet. Steve was seated at his usual seat with his head against the table and lazily following along to the lecture in his notebook. Nat snuck into the room silently as sat down next to him. He looked up at her with glassy eyes before looking back at his crooked notes.

"Why are you in here?" He asked hoarsely.

"Are you getting sick?" Nat asked as she touched his forehead.

He was getting a bit warm but he was also bundled up because he hated to be cold. It could possibly resolve itself just from him removing his coat but she'd never be able to talk him into doing that.

"I dunno. Maybe. My head just hurts. I'll be fine." Steve mumbled before pulling his coat over his mouth as he coughed.

Natasha frowned and ran a hand through his slightly damp hair. "Oh sweetheart... You should just go home now. I'll stop by after school to make you dinner unless your mom will be home."

"She didn't tell me what she worked. I was asleep when she got home last night." Steve said as he closed his eyes, his pencil freezing in the middle of a word.

Natasha shook her head and stood from the chair. "You're leaving as soon as the next bell rings. You can't spend all day falling asleep and getting other people sick."

"Whatever." He said sleepily.

She left as quiet as she walked in and hurried back to her own class. The teacher didn't say anything as she walked in just cleared his throat loudly before talking about numbers again. She sat down in her spot and looked at Bucky who was already looking at her.

"So?" He asked softly, leaning close to her.

"He's sick. Shouldn't even be at school today."

"He seemed fine this morning. He was picking on me about the baby and laughing."

"He doesn't want us to know he's sick. I just know he is. He was half asleep in chemistry. I've also been his friend since kindergarten so I just know him." 

"Makes sense. Does he get sick a lot?"

"Too much."

Bucky nodded a little as he remembered Steve saying he had a poor immune system and that he didn't feel very well last night. He figured he had just felt awkward because Becca tried to ruin all of his friendships but obviously he wasn't actually feeling well. At least he wasn't lying just to avoid him...

The bell rang and Bucky was kinda mad at himself for spending the entire class period thinking about Steve. He gathered his stuff and bolted out the door and headed towards the home ec. room. Steve was somehow already there and seemingly asleep at his desk. Bucky sat behind him and watched as Natasha and Clint walked into the classroom and took their seats.

"Steve, I said to go home." Natasha said sternly.

"Gotta stay in school, ma." Steve mumbled sleepily.

"Damn. If I didn't know him better I'd guess Steve came to school absolutely drunk." Clint said with a snort.

"'m not drunk." 

"Hey, don't worry about taking Nikolas tonight. I'll just keep him so you can sleep." Bucky offered.

"No I gotta do my share too."

"It's fine. I can keep him for the rest of the week. You need your sleep."

"I don't sleep when 'm sick." Steve said as he lifted his head and turned to face Bucky.

His face was flushed and his eyes were glassy. Bucky shook his head and hugged the doll to his chest.

"Nope. We're divorced and it's my week to keep the baby."

"I hate you." Steve said with a small laugh before coughing into the crook of his arm.

Bucky patted Steve's head as the teacher stood from her desk and headed towards them.

"How are your babies doing?" She asked with a smile.

"Fine I'd hope. Nikolas has been well cared for." Bucky said with a smile back.

"Not thrown in a dumpster fire." Clint said with a wink towards Steve who flipped him off when the teacher looked away from him.

"Well I'd hope not. These babies are expensive you know."

"We know." The group said in unison.

The teacher nodded a little before heading around the room to see about the other groups. Steve fell asleep with his head on Bucky's desk. Natasha just sighed in frustration and Clint resisted drawing on his face. Buck just ran his hands through his hair softly and rocked Nikolas. It's not like they really did much in this class anymore, the teacher just wanted to make sure everyone knew what they were doing now and talked about how expensive real babies are. Bucky didn't pay attention because he already knew. His ma told him constantly how expensive babies are so he wouldn't make any any time soon. Steve had said he wanted kids but he was probably just saying it because Buck had said he wanted none. 

Eventually the bell rang and Steve had to be shaken awake so he could finally go home. All three of them followed Steve to the office so he could sign out and then to the door to make sure he actually left. As soon as he was out the double doors Clint and Nat ran off to their classes. Bucky watched for a moment to make sure he wouldn't come back in before heading towards the locker rooms. He pulled his phone from his pocket and text Steve, "text me back when you get home so i know you didnt die on the cement or get kidnapped." 

It took a while for Steve to reply and Bucky was in the middle of pulling off his shirt when he heard his phone vibrate in his locker. "Yeah whatever. Don't forget to stop by to swap off the kid. You aren't allowed to keep him another night." Bucky rolled his eyes and finished changing before carrying Nikolas into the weight room.

"Buck!" Sam called with a wave.

He headed over to his friend and set Nikolas safely somewhere nearby.

"Hey, Nat broke into chem today. Is Steve okay?"

Bucky shrugged. "I guess he's sick."

"Oh Jesus. I hope it isn't anything bad. Last year he caught pneumonia around this time."

"Yeah. That's not good."

"Nat brought all his stuff over because she has an immune system of gold. I have never seen that girl get sick. It scares me. Everyone gets sick. Maybe she's an android."

Bucky nodded thoughtfully. "I can totally see that."

The rest of that class consisted of informing Thor their discovery of Natasha's robotic nature and doing whatever the teacher barked at them. After that Bucky just wanted to leave and see Steve but he knew his ma would never call him out of school and he wasn't stealthy enough to just leave. By the time he was finally able to leave he rushed over to Steve's house to see two other cars there. He frowned slightly before parking in front of the neighbor's house and carried Nikolas to the door. He was surprised when Natasha opened the door before he could even knock.

"Uh. Hi?"

"Get in. Clint and I are making him some soup. Maybe seeing his husband and son can make him eat." Natasha joked as she pulled him in.

"Right. Son. Husband. Got it." Bucky passed through the living room to go upstairs to Steve's room when he heard a loud whine from the couch.

Alright maybe Steve wasn't upstairs. Bucky turned around and headed to the couch, peering over the back to see Steve curled up under four different blankets and a hood pulled on. He opened his eyes and looked at Bucky blearily.

"You didn't answer my text." Steve mumbled as he fixed the hood to be out of his eyes.

"I was trying to just get through the rest of the day so I could be here. I brought the devil baby for you." Bucky said softly.

"Mmm. Don't want him." Steve replied as he shut his eyes.

Bucky snorted and rolled his eyes before walking around the couch and sitting on the floor near Steve's head. "Are you still cold?"

"Little bit." 

He set Nikolas down on the coffee table and unzipped his jacket.

"You don't gotta-"

"Yep. Sit up. You're wearing this too. Can't be too cold. Sweat out that fever." Bucky said as he turned to help Steve put the jacket on.

It was a little weird putting a jacket over a hoodie but Steve was tiny so it wasn't an impossible feat. Even with the hoodie being a size or two too big Bucky's jacket swallowed it and Steve in warmth. He smiled as he zipped it and pulled the hood over the one already up.

"There. Nice and warm." Bucky said as he made Steve lay down again and tucked him in. 

"Thanks." Steve said softly.

In all honestly the faint smell of smoke was making him a little nauseous but he wasn't about to tell Bucky that. The already worn jacket was really warm and cozy. Bucky turned the TV on but kept the volume down as he looked through the channels. He settled on some cooking show. Steve didn't know which one because he had shut his eyes again. He could hear Clint and Nat arguing softly about something and Bucky was humming softly. Steve reached for Bucky who subconsciously just held his hand. Steve cracked open an eye to look to see if he even noticed.

"Oh man that guy's running out of time and trying to make rice? He's gonna get removed." He said softly as he stared at the show.

He hadn't noticed then. They had kissed yesterday and now they were holding hands. Steve didn't know anything about relationships but did this mean they were dating? He had no idea and he didn't want to ask. He just kept his hand slack to make Bucky think he was still sleeping as he watched the show. Bucky was right and the guy was the one to be removed from the competition. Steve closed his eyes when he heard Nat and Clint walk into the living room.

"Oh. He's still sleeping. Wouldn't wanna wake him up. He's pissy when he's tired." Natasha said and Steve heard the sound of a ceramic bowl being set on the wooden coffee table.

"He's always pissy." Clint added in.

He knew what they were doing. They were seeing if he was really asleep or not. They knew he'd react to their mean words, but he wasn't going to because he was holding Bucky's hand and didn't want to let go.

"Yeah he's been asleep for like two episodes. You guys took a long time to make food." Bucky said with a slight laugh, squeezing Steve's hand gently.

"Well... Make sure he eats when he wakes up. And his homework is on his bed with his backpack." Natasha said as she loomed over Steve.

Still not budging.

"Got it. Drive safe." Bucky said with a smile.

Natasha and Clint eventually and Bucky was still holding his hand. He was wearing his jacket and holding his hand. Bucky fell asleep after five episodes and for once Nikolas didn't cry. Steve ended up falling asleep at some point too. When he woke up Bucky was still holding his hand, the TV and the light was off, and the soup was no longer on the coffee table. That either meant Natasha broke in to clean up or his mom was home. Either way it didn't matter. He guessed sleeping sitting up wasn't comfortable though but he didn't want to wake Bucky up. Instead, he carefully pulled off one of his blankets and covered him with it. He fell back asleep and this time when he woke up Bucky and Nikolas were gone and Steve was far too warm with 4 blankets and 2 jackets on.


	5. Lost Time

School without Steve was much more boring. Bucky only saw him in passing and in home ec. but he still felt like he was missing something from him not being there with him. Natasha shared a similar feeling since they had most classes and a lunch period together. Even Clint made a comment about missing Steve because nobody had threatened him all day. It just felt too quiet without him complaining about something or trying to start fights.

After the final bell Bucky wanted to head over but he didn't know if Steve would even be up to hang out so instead he just went home to work on his homework and make sure Nikolas was cared for. Eventually he ended up leaving his homework half done and was watching TV instead. He was seated with his legs over the back and upside down. He stared blankly at the show, not focusing on whatever was happening. He sighed loudly as he set his hands on his stomach and closed his eyes.

"What's up, buttercup?" Becca asked as she sat down next to him.

"Oh you know. Just bored." Bucky answered as he blinked his eyes into focus and looked at her.

"Hmm. Bored. You have been spending all week with Steve. I'm sure you'd be bored without him today. Why aren't you at his house?"

"He's sick. He's probably send me away as soon as I showed up at his door. I told him I'd keep Nikolas for the rest of the week even though he tried to throw a fit about it. Something about doing an equal share of work." Bucky turned his head to look back at the TV.

He didn't know why he picked the cooking channel, he didn't usually watch it unless his ma was. Something just made him want to watch it as soon as he saw it.

"You could bring him some soup or something. Can't send you away if you have food. I mean, I wouldn't send someone away if they brought me food."

"No, his mom probably asked for days off so she could care for him... It seemed pretty bad. Sam said he got pneumonia last year around this time. Ma would kill me if I came home with pneumonia."

Becca nodded and flipped to sit correctly on the couch. "Text him then. See if he's home and if his mom is home. If she isn't bring him some food. If she is, I don't know you could still try to see him."

Bucky shrugged and slowly pushed himself off the couch. "I don't know. I wouldn't want to wake him up."

"Oh my God. Give me your phone and I'll wake him up then. You're so gross. You aren't even dating and you treat him like your boyfriend."

"I do not!"

"Then call your partner! This is your project!" She said as she poked Nikolas.

"You're so mean! Don't you have someone else to be mean to? Go bug dad or something."

"Dad isn't home this week. You'd know that if you were home more."

"I wouldn't know anyways. It's not like he seeks me out when both of us are home." Bucky grumbled as he texted Steve to ask if he was awake.

"Wow, and now you have daddy issues. You're life is so sad, James."

"Rebecca. I will shove you off that couch." 

"Try me bitch."

They stared each other in the eye. Bucky's phone went off and Becca looked towards it. Bucky used this time to quickly slip a leg behind her and pull her off the couch and on to the floor with him. She yelped when she hit the carpet and then reached over to grab his phone.

"Hey!"

She scrambled to her feet and sprinted to the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Bucky raced after her and twisted the doorknob.

"Rebecca Grace Barnes if you fuck with my phone I will fuck with yours!"

"It's in my pocket but good try!" She sang as she sat on the edge of the bathtub and read the text. "Aw, your boyfriend's up. Want me to tell him you'll be right over?"

"No! If you get out of the bathroom and give me my phone I'll let you hang out with me and Thor."

Rebecca stared at the text long and hard. On one hand she could absolutely tell Steve exactly how Bucky felt about him and either make everything great or ruin it all, or she could hang out with Thor... She pouted as she slid off the tub and unlocked the door. Bucky opened it as soon as he heard the lock click and grabbed his phone from her hand.

"I want you to take my ice skating with Thor. It'll be so romantic." She said with a dreamy sigh.

"Yeah. Okay. They don't set the rink up for another month but sure."

"I won't forget. Any chance to see Thor."

Bucky rolled his eyes and stomped upstairs to his room. He threw himself on to his bed and looked at his phone. Becca had lied about who texted, no surprise there. It was their mom reminding him he was in charge of making supper tonight. He shot her a text saying he hadn't, like a liar, and then stared up at his ceiling. He stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry as he sat up and pulled his shirt off. Rebecca could feed herself since she wanted to act like a jerk. He slid off his pants before crawling under his blankets. Sure it was only like four thirty, but he wanted to go to bed and not think anymore.

Steve was also curled up under blankets but he was still laying on the couch. He had removed all the blankets but one and his own sweatshirt, leaving on Bucky's hoodie. He was watching TV with half lidded eyes and sniffling as he waited for the commercial to end. He hated missing school but he was barely able to leave the couch without swaying and at one point he collapsed on the way to get a glass of water. He had woke up on cold tile with a mess of water to clean up and wet clothes to change out of. 

He had been woken up from his phone vibrating loudly on the wooden coffee table. He didn't bother to check it since it was probably just someone making sure he was still alive but whoever it was could just come over and see for themselves. The TV was on when he had opened his eyes and eventually when the commercials stopped he learned it was some hospital show. His mom was either home now or was here earlier and got called back to work but left the TV on for him. He didn't really care for her hospital dramas but he didn't know where the remote was and didn't want to get up from the couch. 

"Ma?" He called hoarsely, waiting for a response. 

The house was empty except for him. He rolled over to face the back of the couch and covered his hands with the sleeves of the jacket. He stared at the ugly striped pattern of the couch as he brought the sleeves to his face. Did he feel creepy for sniffing the jacket? Absolutely. But it made him feel a little better. He fell back asleep with the dumb hospital drama still on and his face in his hands. When his mom returned back from running to the hospital she'd pull the hood of the jacket down and run a hand through his messy blond hair, feeling the fever he still had radiating heat. She'd wonder again when she bought this jacket for him and how did it even get cigarette burns on it since Steve knew she'd kill him if he started smoking. Think about why the strings were missing as she cooked him some broth since he had a gross habit of chewing on the strings when he was nervous. She'd check the tag later and ask herself why it was two sizes too big since she always bought him the same size because if it was different than the others he wouldn't wear it. She's just shrug and later pull the hood back up while he was still fast asleep before going to her own room to get some rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little short but hopefully I can make up for it on the next chapter. On that note, I think there might only be another one or two chapters before it's done and then maybe I'll consider writing a sequel or something? Haven't decided yet.


	6. Finished Project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has a lot of dialogue and I am sorry for that.

Steve convinced his mom he needed to attend school on Friday since he needed to be there to turn in the baby. She had protested a lot but said he'd have to stay home the entire weekend so he could sleep and recover. He agreed to those terms and ended up at school wearing a pair of joggers and Bucky's jacket over a long sleeved shirt. He sniffed as he dug through his locker, making sure he had everything for his first class. What he didn't expect was a spine crushing hug.

"You didn't die!" Natasha said as she picked Steve up.

"I can't breathe."

"Yes you can you big baby. Let me hug you." 

Steve let out a long sigh as she set him back down on the floor and loosened her hug so he could keep looking through his messy locker.

"We were all so bored yesterday. Even Bucky complained about you being gone. Said he missed his beautiful wife."

"Mmhmm. I missed my horrible friends too. I was forced to watch all of mom's hospital dramas. I didn't know where the remote was and I didn't want to move to find it. I almost went crazy."

"Hey! Steve's back!" Clint cheered as he jogged up to them. "How you feeling, man?"

"Still sick. Told mom I needed to be here to return the Satan doll though. Where is my doting husband anyways?"

"I dunno. Probably still moping around." Clint said with a shrug before ruffling Steve's hair.

Steve pouted as he fixed his hair. "You're going to lose a hand if you do that ever again. What am I, a toddler?"

"About the size of one." 

"Clinton Francis Barton you will die a slow and painful death if you do not run in three seconds."

"Oh come on, it was a joke."

"Two seconds."

Steven-"

"One second."

Clint looked at Natasha for help and she just shrugged before fixing Steve's hair since he had only made it worse. They watched as Clint bolted down the hallway 

"Full name use? You really meant business." Natasha mused as Steve shut his locker.

"I am still so tired and so dizzy that I would not have been able to do anything. Had he not left I was just going going to punch him in the dick."

"Dick punching? That's what Steve's come back to school with?" Bucky asked with a grin as he walked up to them. "Is that my jacket?"

"Uh. Yeah. You left it at my house. I was returning it." Steve hoped his fever was still making him looked flushed because if not he was totally blushing.

"No it's fine. Wear it for the day. It's kinda cold in here and we can't have you getting any sicker." Bucky offered a smile and leaned against the locker next to Steve's.

Steve glanced at Nikolas in Bucky's arms and reached for him. "I'll take him for the rest of the day. Sorry I couldn't take him the other days."

Bucky gladly passed over the doll. "Didn't miss much. He kinda stopped screaming at night which was awesome. Missed his beautiful mom."

"Gross, I'm not a girl." Steve took the doll from Bucky and gave him a weak glare. "I forgot to complain every time you called me wife or mom but I was too tired. So. I'm telling you now. I hear those words one more time and I will punch you in the dick too."

Bucky nodded. "Noted. Sorry my handsome husband."

Steve shook his head a little. "Not a fan of that either but whatever. I'll see you later."

He carried his lovely doll son to class and cuddled him to his chest. He had almost missed the dumb thing. He couldn't believe he loved a doll but it wasn't crazy or anything. People loved weirder stuff. He was allowed to love his fake baby. As Bucky said Nikolas was good and didn't cry at all through his classes. He made happy sounds and cooed whenever Steve held him. Maybe the doll's demon was in love with him and was frying the circuits so he wouldn't cry anymore. Maybe it was coming to life and knew Steve was sick and would throw it across the room if it cried. Whatever it was Steve liked it since he was able to groggily pay attention to class.

He felt like he was trudging through Jell-O the whole way to chemistry. When he plopped down in his usual seat he almost missed the chair but Sam had caught him before he could hit the floor.

"Jesus, Steve. Are you still sick?"

"A little."

Sam shook his head and helped Steve sit in his chair completely before he sat down next to him.

"What's up, Sam. Sorry I was acting like a dick all week. Always kinda act like a dick before I get sick... Should've known."

"I mean, it's not fine. I'm still kinda mad you declined my apology by staring me in the eye and crumpling my note. It's a start for both of us though. We're both sorry and we can move on from there, yeah?"

"Yeah. Still sorry though." Steve mumbled as he pulled out his notebook from his backpack.

"I'm still sorry too. You could've told me you're banned from the theater here instead of yelling at me."

"Who told you about that?"

"Thor. Did you really try to fight someone for talking during a movie?"

"Try? Sam, I kicked his ass. Well I almost did. I was escorted out and told not to return after I punched him in the throat."

Sam stared at Steve in disbelief before laughing. Steve laughed a little too since he almost couldn't believe himself for starting a fight in the middle of a movie. He couldn't even remember which movie it was and he definitely had not known the man he punched in the throat. It was too dark to see who it was but Steve didn't even hesitate to do it. He had tried a last month to go into the theater and see a movie but the manager was right there and stared him dead in the eyes and pointed to the exit door. He figured that meant it was established with the staff he was not allowed in for a long while considering it had been almost two years since he did it. 

"I'm glad we're cool again. It was boring sitting alone. Nobody was there to fix my doodles." Sam said after a while.

"I mostly slept so I don't know if I was bored or not."

"I'm sure you were otherwise you wouldn't have been sleeping."

"Valid point."

Steve sketched a new picture of Nikolas as the teacher lectured about some chemical bonds and elements. This sketch looked more like a baby that a soulless doll and he was pretty proud of that. He needed to invest in some colored pencils so he could color it in. He jumped a little when Sam tossed something on to the table from his backpack. Sure they weren't professional grade, but he guessed he could work with Crayola. By the time the bell rang he had a beautiful, half finished drawing of his fake son. 

"Thanks for letting me use those. My son looks so nice."

"No problem. I have so many coloring books in my bag for study hall so of course I had to buy the biggest pack of colored pencils I could. Any time you wanna use them just let me know."

Steve smiled as he shoved his notebooks and pencil bag into his backpack. He was happy they were talking again and reminded himself to stop being such a dick to people when they're just trying to be nice. He carried his son to home ec. and kept his feet off the seat in front of him so Bucky could sit there. Maybe all he needed to do was get sick to see how mean he had been. Also maybe not because he felt miserable even if he was trying not to show it. He needed to learn to just stop being an asshole and then he wouldn't have to deal with the consequences when he didn't feel like being a dick anymore.

Bucky sat down in front of him and swiveled to look at him and Nikolas. "You didn't kill him?"

"Nope. He's been good. Maybe the demon possessing him left since we're returning him. Nobody to torment until next semester or year, however often she does this."

"Maybe. He has been acting too good since you got sick..."

"Totally his ghost or demon leaving. Nothing else makes sense."

Bucky snorted and turned around to sit correctly. Natasha and Clint appeared not soon later and sat in their seats. 

Clint looked at Steve and simply said, "Don't dick punch me."

Steve rolled his eyes and snorted. "Don't call me short."

"Well you are the size of a toddler."

"I can still shake your baby and ruin both of your grades."

Clint gasped loudly and clutched his chest. "How rude. I haven't been watching our baby anyways. That was Barney's job whenever he was home. The doll liked him better."

"I like Barney better than you too." Natasha teased.

"You take that back! We've been dating for like four years!"

"It was all just to see Barney!"

"She's cheating on you, Clint." Steve said with a laugh.

"This isn't funny guys!" Clint whined.

"The truth is revealed." Bucky said softly, grinning.

"I hate all of you. We aren't friends anymore. Barney is gross."

"He is, I was kidding. I'd never leave you for your brother. You're much cuter." Natasha pinched Clint's cheek to emphasize her point.

The bell rang. The teacher clapped her hands together loudly and stood from her chair.

"Alright kids! I'm gonna call you up and you get to return your babies today! Don't forget to turn in all the papers that went with this whole project too! I hope you all learned a lot from this!"

"I learned I don't want babies because they scream a lot." Steve mumbled.

"This baby screamed a lot. Lots of real babies don't cry this much." Bucky said softly.

"Well I don't want to risk it. I'm going to adopt a kid that's like two or older."

"That could work."

"Of course it would. It's my idea."

Bucky snorted and shook his head.

"Clint and Natasha!" The teacher called.

Steve watched as his friends walked to the front of the room with their baby. He almost didn't want to return Nikolas. Maybe he'd buy a stuffed animal to replace his son. Name it Nikolas too. It would be like when people lost pets and got the same breed of it and named it the same name. God he was way too attached to this doll, he was blaming it on his fever. He kissed the doll's forehead gently as he heard his name called.

"C'mon, Steve." Bucky said as he stood.

Steve scrambled to his feet and followed behind Bucky. The teacher took the doll from Steve's arms and smiled at them.

"Did you two learn anything from this project?"

"I'm not having babies." Steve deadpanned.

Bucky elbowed Steve gently. "We learned more about responsibility. It was a fun project."

"I'm so happy to hear that!"

They walked back to their seats and Steve hugged himself. "I'm so used to holding Nikolas. I feel empty without my fake son." 

"Aw, how cute. Steve actually loved his baby." Natasha said with a smile.

"I kinda did!"

"You're like a real daddy. Daddy Steve. Sounds bad, never mind." Clint added to the conversation.

"That comment allows me to have your desserts from lunch for a week."

"How about just seven times and only when it's something you absolutely love."

Steve thought it over. "Deal." He was going to lie each time and pick something Clint loved. It would work out.

"I miss Nikolas too. I was starting to like him since he stopped crying so much." Bucky added after a while.

"We both miss our horrible son."

"We do."

"Let's have a party to forget about our horrible children." Clint suggested quietly.

"I'm in." Natasha whispered back.

"Might as well." Bucky said with a shrug.

"Guys. I'm fucking sick. All I can drink is water."

"You don't have to drink, nerd. You can still come." Clint said after looking around to make sure nobody was listening.

"Yeah, let me just convince my mom to let me stay out all night after having to fight with her just to let me come to school. Brilliant idea, Francis."

"Don't middle name me, Grant."

"Your middle name is Grant?" Bucky asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No. I don't have a middle name. It's an inside joke."

"A stupid inside mind you. I've been trying to get them to drop it since it started." Natasha added as she watched her friends squabble at each other. 

"Did it start because he doesn't have a middle name?"

"Yes. He pulled what he just did and Clint said it wasn't fair since he didn't know Steve's middle name and couldn't use it back. Steve said he didn't have one and then they went on a baby name hunt to give Steve a good middle name. Mine is Alianovna but since they can't pronounce it they don't middle name me."

Bucky was quiet as he watched the two continue to have a quiet argument about whatever they moved on to. "My middle name is Buchanan."

The two stopped arguing to look at Bucky.

"Did you give yourself a nickname from your middle name?" Clint asked with a snicker.

"No! Becca always called me Bucky. I don't know, she never tried to say James. Dad used to call me buddy and I think she just started there. She called me Bucky and then we just kept using it. I've been Bucky for almost fifteen years now. Nobody else knows this story so don't tell people. It's embarrassing."

"Oh my God." Steve said softly. "That is so goddamn cute."

"Shut up! It's not cute!"

"It's so cute! I need to ask Becca about this now."

"Do not! She wouldn't remember it, she was just a baby. She's just always called me Bucky and hasn't asked about why. She probably thinks mom or dad started it."

Steve pouted. "It's still cute. Mom just calls me her baby or her boy, I don't really have a nickname."

The group chatted as they waited for the bell to ring and then went their separate ways to class. The rest of the day was uneventful for each of them except for Steve and Bucky still being on their toes, waiting for some ghost or demon to just start making something cry. They were very convinced their fake son had absolutely been possessed and didn't want to meet whatever had been causing the possession. One of their friends would occasionally jump out at them to make them jump but after the first few times it wasn't getting a reaction so they stopped. At the end of the day Bucky waited at Steve's locker just like he had for the week. Steve was rubbing his eyes as he threw his stuff into his locker.

"Want a ride home?" Bucky offered as he spun his lanyard around his hand.

"Sure. Mom would probably croak if I walked home. Let's make sure she isn't already waiting for me though."

"Of course."

They walked outside together and searched to make sure his mom hadn't come to pick him up. She wasn't there so they climbed into Bucky's car.

"Think she'd care if we stopped somewhere for an after school snack?" Bucky asked with a grin, looking at Steve as he started his car.

"Gotta eat when you're sick." Steve replied with a shrug and a smile.

"That you do! I'd hate to bring you home if I knew you were hungry. What kind of friend would I be?" Bucky asked as he drove from the school. 

They drove around for a while since neither of them had said where they wanted to eat. They didn't even think about it until Steve yelped in surprise from his phone going off in his pocket.

"Hello? Hi mom. Sorry- I forgot- I'm sorry. Yeah. Yep. I said sorry! I'll be right home. I forgot! Okay... Bye, love you." Steve shoved his phone back in his pocket. "I uh- I gotta go home. Sorry."

"It's fine." Bucky offered a smile as he headed to Steve's house. "What'd you forget?"

Steve's face flushed. "My doctor's appointment."

Bucky laughed. "Steve, you nerd! How could you forget that?"

"It's probably nothing!"

"Or you could die!"

"I ain't dead yet!"

"Oh my God. You're gonna die now. You jinxed it. You idiot. I barely knew you."

Steve shook his head with a smile and looked out the window. He played with the zipper of the jacket before looking at Bucky. "Do you want your jacket back?"

"I can't take a jacket from a sick kid! Even if it is mine! Just give it back when you feel better or I'll feel bad." Bucky mumbled.

Part of that was true. He also really liked seeing Steve in his jacket. Maybe he'd start to slip off more near him to see him wearing more of his clothes. As he thought about it he parked in front of Steve's house.

"I'll see you. If you can somehow escape your mom just message someone and we'll let you know what we're doing. I doubt we'll really have a party. Don't die at the doctor."

"I won't die. And yeah, if I can escape I will. Trust me." Steve looked at Bucky with a smile as he held on to the door handle.

The situation seemed very similar and neither really knew what to do. It didn't matter though because soon Sarah was opening the door and grabbing Steve's hand.

"We're already late, let's go!" She said as she pulled him out. "Thanks for giving my boy a rid!"

Steve waved at Bucky as he was shoved into his mom's car. Bucky snorted as he watched them. He drove himself back home and found Becca had also just gotten home since she was pulling off her boots.

"What's up, Buck? You're a little late."

"I'm late? Why are you just now getting home?" Bucky asked as he toed off his shoes.

"Practice started. Well try outs. You were suppose to be my ride home, remember that? I sure do."

Bucky stared at his sister as he thought about it, his brow furrowing. "Oh fuck. That was today? I'm so sorry, Bec. I was hanging out with Steve-"

"Doesn't matter! I'm still telling mom. You'll probably get grounded and not have your car for a week. What were you doing anyways? It's like five."

Bucky shrugged. "Drove around. I was gonna buy him food but neither of us really said what or where we wanted to eat. I'm so sorry though, I promise I'll drive you around for a week if you don't tell mom."

"Two weeks."

"One."

"Two or I'm calling mom right now." Becca said with her hands on her hips.

"Fine, two. Spoiled brat."

"Maybe you shouldn't forget your baby sister at the school!"

"I didn't mean to forget you!"

"But you did." Becca said in a sing-song way before stomping to her room.

Bucky shook his head as he went to the living room and plopped down on the couch. He set his feet on the coffee table as he turned the TV on. He left it on whatever cartoon was playing and made a mental note to tell Becca to stop watching cartoons since she was 15 and not 5. Except now he was technically watching the cartoon too... 

He shook his head as he grabbed his phone from his pocket and opened a game. Maybe he could just invite Natasha and Clint over here to hang out since he wasn't really in the mood for a real party. And perhaps since it was just at his house he could convince Steve to sneak out or something to hang out with them. That seemed more logical than having him try to sneak out to a party where he couldn't even party since he was sick. He should ask him if he's contagious before inviting him over though...


	7. Do You Wanna Hang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again I know I shouldn't apologize for how extremely late and inconsistent I've been with posting but I am an apologetic person so. College has been a little much for me lately but thankfully finals are over and I'll be home soon! Don't know if that'll mean more or less posting so you may or may not see another apology. Also again with so much dialogue you're probably sick of it. My bad.

Steve woke up on Saturday feeling a little better. He could breathe without his chest rattling or hurting. He took that as a good sign and rolled over in his bed to grab his phone. He had a lot more missed calls and unanswered texts than he thought he would. He ignored it for now and slipped out of bed, keeping a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He headed downstairs and peeked into the kitchen. His mom was leaning on the counter space next to the oven and watching whatever she was making. He walked in silently and sat down at the table. It took a little bit for her to refocus her eyes to look at what she was making and just a moment longer for her to notice her son at the table.

"Morning, cutie pie. How are you feeling today?"

"Better. Guess it was just one of those couple day things. I feel like I could keep down whatever it is you're making."

Sarah snorted softly. "I don't think I could. I was too busy thinking and happened to burn the first pancake. Nothing good ever follows burning the first pancake."

"I believe in you. Make those pancakes!" Steve cheered.

"You're so sweet, Steve." She said with a smile as she set the extremely burnt pancake on a plate before adding more batter to the hot pan.

"I'm so sweet because you're the best mom ever."

"Oh stop it. We both know neither of us have manners."

"That is correct." Steve laughed.

He watched as she used the batter to make a few very large pancakes and then grabbed the peanut butter and syrup from the pantry. They ate quietly once the batter was gone with asmall stack of pancakes was made, trying to maintain some sort of small talk but neither had ever been good at that so the topics kept changing too fast.

"So, about that Bucky kid you've been hanging out with. He a good kid?" Sarah asked before sipping her coffee.

"I guess? Natasha hangs out with him too, has for a while and nobody told me. Clint too. My friends do stuff without me but that isn't surprising. I'm usually sick so it's whatever. He plays football and baseball I think he said? I didn't pay attention when he talked about it because I was mad at him for sitting in my foot chair."

"You do know not every class you're in will have a foot chair for you, right?"

"I'm aware. It was a bad day. He switches between sitting in front of me or behind me. It's nice to have another person in the group. Never been a fan of odd numbers." Steve said before stuffing his mouth with a huge bite of overly sweet, syrup soaked pancake.

The only thing he'd been able to keep down for the past few days was broth and water and so far the pancakes felt like they'd stay down. He was so excited he was probably making himself sick from how much he was trying to eat.

"Slow down, Steve. You're gonna choke from how much peanut butter you have on there." Sarah said with a laugh. "If you're feeling better I guess I can allow you out of the house with few complaints. If you start to feel sick again I want you back though. I do not plan on picking you up from the ER again for accidentally stabbing yourself in the stomach because you collapsed while playing with one of Nat's knives."

"That was one time!" Steve said around a mouthful of pancake.

"Yeah! I don't want another time. You don't need another weird ass scar from being a dork. What knife were you even playing with again?"

"I don't know. One of her throwing knives. Look, I'm still sorry about that. You allowed your fifteen-year old son out after he was diagnosed with pneumonia."

"You snuck out you little shit! I tucked you into bed and then checked on you an hour later and you were gone. As I was putting on my coat to track you down Natasha called to tell me you guys were at the ER because you fainted and stabbed yourself in the abdomen."

Steve was silent for a while before asking, "You kept the shirt right? Didn't wash it?"

"Of course I kept it. It's in my closet in a box labeled, 'Souvenirs from Steve,' and it's filled to the brim of stuff from the dumb stuff you've done. Figured it would make a good graduation gift or something so you can remember how many times you've almost killed your own mother."

"That would be cool. I'm down for that. Anything else memorable in there?"

Sarah got up from the table and began to clear away dishes. "The letter from the theater saying you're banned, the cast from when you broke your arm in second grade though it isn't as pink as it was when it was put on, there's a scrapbook with all your medical records, I don't know it's been a while since I had to go in it. Maybe we can do that another day."

Steve nodded and helped his mom clean up. "I can't wait to show it to my future kids and tell them about how their dad was a total badass."

"A total badass who stabbed himself in the abdomen with a throwing knife!"

"It was an accident!"

"You snuck out to see her new knives and stabbed yourself with one!"

"Did you get that from here for the box too?"

"No. She has her own stupid Steve box. Ask her about it. Her stuff is funnier."

Steve held a hand to his chest and gasped in fake shock. "How rude. I'm going to take a shower and then see if anyone even wants to hang out with me."

"Don't stab yourself along the way."

Steve pouted as he dramatically stomped up the stairs. He grabbed his phone from his bed and grabbed an outfit to change into after showering. He had missed calls and texts from Natasha, Clint, and Bucky. He locked the door to the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub as he read the texts. The three of them had all gotten together last night and from the looks of the texts they had followed through with their plans to drink. Clint mostly asked where he was until he accidentally answered his own question followed by, "Oh shit that's me!" He couldn't tell from Natasha's texts if she had gotten as intoxicated since she was a master of acting normal, her texts also asked where he was and then funny pictures of stuff Clint was doing that night. They went to the park near Clint's house and she had taken pictures and videos of him playing on the equipment. Bucky's texts were very repetitive of asking where he was and then turned into him rambling about stuff Clint was doing until a final text around one in the morning that said, " arnwt answering but ill still tell oyu goodnight because i looooooooove yoooooooooou" which made Steve lock his phone and set it near the sink.

He forgot to start the water beforehand so the start of his shower was very cold. He didn't think about it too much since he was too focused on Bucky's text. Sure he was obviously intoxicated so he couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. He guessed he could talk to Natasha and Clint about it first since they always said he was dense about feelings. Many people had shown interest in him but he scared them off being completely unaware. He stayed in the shower for a while, enjoying the hot water against his skin. He only got out when he heard his mom knock on the door.

"Steve, you've been in there for almost an hour. You okay, baby?"

Steve shut off the water. "Yeah, ma. Just thinking."

"Okay, dear. Natasha called the house earlier but I told her I'd make you call her back. Don't forget to do that."

"Will do. Thanks mom." Steve said as he stepped out of the shower and wrapped himself up in a towel.

He checked his phone again and saw one missed call and one text from Natasha. The text simply read, "Call me bitch." He rolled his eyes before grabbing his phone and walking to his bedroom. He laid down on his bed and called Natasha. It rang once before she answered.

"You aren't dead. Congrats." She said in a monotone voice.

"I was sleeping like a good, sick child last night and then I may or may not have spent too long in the shower. My bad."

"It's fine. It wasn't really that fun last night. Clint did what drunk Clint does and played on the playground like a toddler. Bucky joined him. It was kinda funny the first five minutes and then I wanted to go home."

"You could've came over. I would not have been mad at you for doing that."

"As I said, it was kinda funny. Bucky kept complaining whenever his phone went off because it was never you. It's gross how infatuated he is. Unless you feel the same then it's less gross and I wanted him to shut up."

Steve snorted as he stared at the ceiling. "I don't really know how I feel. It's confusing."

Natasha was silent so Steve got up to try to dry himself off while holding his phone against his face with his shoulder.

"Wanna go to lunch with Clint and I? He keeps crying about wanting food but Barney won't make anything for him. He's in a very pathetic state."

"When isn't he?" Steve joked. "Yeah, I think I could go out for lunch. Noon or one?"

"Probably one. It's pathetic to watch but it's really fun."

"That's fine because I just stuffed myself full of pancakes. I'll be hungry around one."

"You're always hungry but yeah. We'll pick you up around one then. Love you, Steve."

"Love you too, Nat."

Natasha hung up on Steve and he tossed his phone on to his bed so he could put clothes on. He yawned loudly as he pulled on a loose shirt and Bucky's jacket along with loose jeans. He grabbed his phone off his bed and headed downstairs. Sarah was seated in the living room reading a book and looked up at her son.

"Hey sweet pea. I forgot to ask you, did you steal someone's jacket again? I know that one isn't yours."

Steve stuck his tongue out at her as he sat down on the couch and grabbed the TV remote. "It's Bucky's. He gave it to me when I was sick and hasn't taken it back. I guess I did steal it in a way."

"Okay cutie pie. Return it eventually. You have too many as it is."

Steve nodded slightly and turned the TV on, looking through channels. "Natasha invited me to lunch today. We're gonna go around one."

"Do you need money?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Sarah smiled and looked back down at her book. "You'll need to get a job eventually, sugar."

"Eventually." Steve agreed as he settled on a cooking show.

The only sounds in the living room were Sarah turning pages and the TV show. Steve wasn't really watching it since he was still trying to decide if Bucky had meant what he said or not. His phone went off which startled him and he fumbled with his phone before finally getting a grip and looking at it. Natasha was calling him. He answered

"Hey, Nat."

"We're outside nerd, let's go!" Clint yelled over the phone.

"I don't want to go anymore." Steve said as he hung up and stood from the couch.

Sarah said goodbye and that there was money in her purse by the door. Steve slipped on a pair of shoes and true to her word there was cash in the front of her purse as there always was. He grabbed it before heading out and saying bye to her. He climbed into Clint's car and laid down in the backseat.

"What's up loser?" Clint asked as he drove away from Steve's house.

"Tired."

"You're always tired."

"I am very easily fatigue as you may or may not be aware of, Clint. It's why I am not forced to be in any gym class."

"Lucky little nerd."

Natasha turned in her seat to look back at Steve and patted his arm. "You'll be fine. Once you eat you'll be less tired."

Steve shrugged and sat up right, leaning between them. "So how was your night? I enjoyed Clint's string of increasing drunk texts."

"Oh man, you should've seen when I reread them. I laughed so hard at, "Oh shit that's me!" I woke Lucky up."

"I love it. You do that so often, it's my favorite."

"It's my favorite to read. I absolutely don't do it on purpose."

Natasha shook her head. "I don't think he remembers sending it."

"I do not!"

Steve laughed. Of course Clint wouldn't remember. He had a horrible memory to start with. They went to Winnie's Diner because Steve had told them it was the best and they were very surprised when Steve practically dragged them to a table and sat down. They both knew how much he love booths but didn't say anything as a petite girl walked up to their table with a grin.

"Steve! I felt like it's been a lifetime since I've seen you." She said as she set down menus.

"I've been sick, wasn't at school for a while." Steve said as he picked up his menu.

"I know. Bucky did nothing but complain. He's so goddamn annoying but you didn't hear me say that." She said with a wink. "Anyways, what do you guys want to drink?"

"Coke." Clint said as he examined the menu.

"Do you guys have lemonade?" Natasha asked as she looked at the menu, not sure if she had overlooked it or not.

"Absolutely. We have freshly made lemonade or pink."

"I'll have pink lemonade then."

"And for you, cupcake?" She asked with a hum.

Steve's cheeks turned pink at the nickname and hid his face behind the menu. "Just water."

"Okie dokie, I'll be right back with those."

Natasha watched as she walked away before looking at Steve. "Spill."

Steve snorted softly. "That's Bucky's little sister Becca. He said she has a crush on all his friends so that kinda includes me I guess?"

"Okay. I just didn't know if you were suddenly into younger girls or not."

"What? No. She's like fifteen. That's gross, Nat."

"Exactly why I pushed!"

"What are you guys gonna get?" Clint asked, completely unaware of their conversation.

"What are you gonna get?" Steve asked, not even sure of what he wanted.

"This burger sounds really good. It has onion rings, bacon, and barbecue sauce on it. It's like my wettest burger dream. I could die happy after eating it."

"That sounds so fattening. You're going to have a heart attack at like thirty." Natasha teased.

"God I hope so. At least I'd get a heart attack from something I loved."

Steve shook his head as Becca came back with a tray holding their drinks. "Alrighty, do you know what you want yet?"

"Hell yes." Clint said as he slammed the menu down on the table, nearly knocking over his drink. "Whoops..."

Clint ordered the burger with extra bacon and Natasha ordered a regular cheeseburger. Becca looked at Steve and hummed.

"And for you, cutie?

"I'll have a bowl of tomato soup please." Steve said as he handed back the menu, trying not to be bothered by yet another nickname.

"That'll be out shortly."

Becca walked away again and Steve deflected any questions about her or Bucky. He tried to distract them with comments about how cute the diner was set up or the fact that What's New Pussycat was either playing again or was a lot longer than he thought it was. Eventually Nat and Clint quit trying to ask about it and also commented on the song. It was either playing for the third time or the second time depending on how long it was.

"Guys," Clint said softly, "he said he wants to kiss her sweet little pussycat lips. I think that's meant to be dirty. It sounded dirty. Are there children here?"

Becca returned to their table holding a bowl. "Here's your soup. Everything else will be out shortly, sorry about the wait."

"Thanks."

Natasha shook her head. "I think someone fucked with the jukebox. They're just replaying it. It's on its fourth play."

"Or its second." Clint pointed out.

"No, I looked it up. It's only like two minutes. This is the worst. How's your soup?" 

Steve looked up at her and shrugged. "The best? It's really good, wanna try?"

"That's why I asked." Natasha said as she leaned over the table with her spoon in hand.

Clint copied her and Steve had to defend his soup after that. "Order your own! This is mine!"

"Sharing is caring!" Clint said with a pout.

"Stop trying to steal Steve's food." Bucky said as he approached the table with their plates. "The boy is already skin and bones."

"Aw you look so cute in that pink shirt, Buck." Clint cooed.

"Thanks. I try my best to look this good for our patrons since all they seem to do is hit on Bec and I. Gotta at least look like I'm interested." He responded with a smirk.

He set their plates down in front of them before occupying the empty chair between Clint and Steve. Steve sipped his soup and glanced at him occasionally. Clint was engrossed in his burger, moaning softly from how good it was. Natasha kept elbowing to tell him to knock it off.

"Shouldn't you be working, Bucket?" Steve asked as he stole a fry from Clint's plate.

"Probably. Becca stole this table as soon as she saw you, this is actually my section today. But since you guys are the only people in my section I figured I could take a break. She can handle the sweet old ladies and I'll take the rude teenagers."

Steve smiled. "Yeah, she came over and started with the nicknames right away. It was kind of uncomfortable."

"Sorry, that's her job as a little sister I guess. Make my friends grossed out. Hey, is that my jacket?"

Steve flushed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Are you stealing my jacket, Steven Rogers? Didn't your mother ever tell you not to steal from bad boys?"

Natasha laughed. "You're as bad a kitten, Barnes."

"First of all, rude. Second of all, I'm plenty bad so shut your mouth."

"What bad things have you done?" She challenged. 

Bucky shrugged. "Depends on what you wanna talk about. It's kinda been hard applying for colleges and jobs since they don't want someone with a record."

"A record of what, Barnes?" She pushed, a grin growing on her face.

Bucky shifted in his seat. "I regret saying I was a bad boy now. I don't wanna talk about it."

"You brought it up." Steve pointed out. "Talk about it."

"Oh hey, I think I hear my ma calling me. Bye." Bucky quickly left the table and went to hide in the kitchen.

Clint, once again having not paid attention to any of that, looked at his friends and said, "The food here is really good. Thanks for suggesting this place, Steve."

"Yeah... No problem." Steve mumbled before slowly going back to his soup.

Natasha didn't even touch her food which Clint also devoured. They paid for their meal before leaving, Steve made sure to tell Becca goodbye and listened as she ran to the kitchen squealing about how he done so and hear Bucky tell her to shut up. Clint drove him back to his house and parked.

"Take care of yourself, Steve. Can't have you getting sick again." Clint said sternly, it honestly surprised him.

"You too, Clint."

"Answer your phone more often and I won't be forced to call your house, okay?" Natasha added.

"I mean I was asleep for most of my missed calls and unanswered texts but I will try to answer more when I'm awake." Steve said with an eye roll.

He got out of Clint's car and headed to his house. He slipped his shoes off as he shut the door.

"I'm home!" He called, expecting his mom to answer.

When she didn't he walked into the kitchen and saw a note left for him on the table. 'Had to go to work for an emergency, will be back before dinner hopefully. Love you Steve.' He pouted and laid down on the couch, happy the TV was still on. He watched as the chef made some very detailed cake and thought about Bucky once again. Wondering what crimes he had committed and if he even wanted to know.


	8. Convicted

Bucky had managed to convince Steve they needed to hang out at his house for once since he had wormed himself out of work and nobody would be home. Steve agreed since he hadn't seen his house before and hoped he could get him to talk about his "record" he brought up at the diner yesterday. He wouldn't tell him that though since then he'd probably never know. Curiosity may have killed the cat but Steve figured there was a few ways the cat could go so as long as he figured out the answer first he didn't care how the cat went. 

That's how he ended up in Bucky's messy car headed down a street he had never been down before and listening to music he had never heard before. He was singing along to the music loudly as Steve watched him with a smile. Bucky was too focused on the road to notice he had been being watched the entire time he was driving though and was startled when he parked and looked at Steve.

"Why're you staring at me?"

"Wasn't staring." Steve tried to say innocently, unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Yeah you were. It's not cool Rogers. You can't just stare at people. That's creepy."

"I remember you staring at me a whole lot this past week so how about you shut up about it and lead me into your house before I call my mom to take me back home."

Bucky pouted and stepped out of his car, throwing the front door of his house open and flinching at the sound of the security alarm. Why was the door unlocked but the alarm system turned on? He ran to the control pad of the stupid thing and entered the cancel code, sighing in relief as the alarms shut off. Steve was standing in the doorway, his eyes filled with tears as he laughed.

"Now it's your turn to shut up! I don't even know how that happened. Mom must've done it from work with the app or something. I sure as Hell didn't set the alarm."

Steve shut the door behind him and wiped his eyes as his laughter died down. "This is why my mom refuses to get one of those alarm systems. Her friend has one and it goes haywire all the time."

Bucky shrugged and wandered into the house. Steve followed behind him, looking at anything he could along the way. They had less pictures hanging around than Steve and his mother did. He stopped to look at a picture of Bucky as a toddler with Becca right next to him. They were covered in frosting from the destroyed cake in front of them. Steve smiled and ghosted his fingers along the bottom of the frame.

"Did you get lost, buttercup?" Bucky called from a different room.

"Nope. Just looking at whatever embarrassing pictures your mom put up." Steve yelled back before trying to find him.

"Oh she's got plenty. You'd probably die before you saw the last one. Her and Bec are trying to kill me with those horrible pictures." Bucky said when Steve found him in the kitchen.

Bucky had a glass of orange juice in his hands and was eyeing a pie that was cooling on the counter. Steve snorted and leaned in the archway.

"I think it's cute. My mom has everything stupid I've ever done in a box and told me Nat has one too. She has plenty of Polaroids that I remember her taking. Like when I took apart my bike with my dad's tools and tried to put it back together. We had to bring it to my grandpa because I fucked up so bad." Steve said with a laugh.

Bucky snorted into his juice, almost spilling it everywhere. "That sounds amazing. I can't even imagine you doing something like that."

"I was a shit kid. Always taking stuff apart to see if I could put it back together. Most of the time I couldn't but those few times I could encouraged me to keep trying."

"I once hid one of Becca's favorite dolls in the oven and didn't tell anyone. Everyone else found out when ma started preheating the oven and the whole house smelled like burnt plastic. I had to do so many chores to make up for it. Plus Becca doesn't let me live it down. To this day she still uses it against me."

"Why did you think hiding it in the oven was a good idea? Especially a plastic doll?"

"I was like twelve. I thought she'd find it! I always hid her dolls and she always found them. We had to get a new oven after that too. I kinda ruined two things that day. I was very grounded."

"I'd imagine so. I guess I about did the same. We were at a barbeque one time and I threw my doll into the fire pit they had going."

Bucky looked at Steve with a raised eyebrow. "A what?"

"Fire pit?" Steve said slowly. "They were to blame too. Who allows a bunch of little kids to be around an open flame unsupervised? We threw lots of stuff in but it was the doll that caused panic."

"A doll?"

"Yeah. Like what you did."

"Why did you have a doll?"

"I think I was five. I had a lot of dolls."

"You mom allowed you to have dolls?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Yeah what five-year old girl-" he cut himself off to think about his words before nodding. "You're right. That does not make sense to you. My bad."

"Continue that sentence."

"No thanks. Let's talk about something else instead."

Bucky set down his cup and shook his head. "Nope. We're talking about you now."

Steve stared at Bucky with wide eyes before sprinting out of the kitchen. Bucky gave him a headstart since he had the unfair advantage of it being his house. Steve found a closet upstairs and crawled into it, hiding behind a large stack of neatly folded blankets. He tried not to wheeze from the sudden exercise and had to cover his mouth with his hands when he heard Bucky walking past the closet. The footsteps stopped in front of it and Steve closed his eyes tightly as the door was opened slowly.

Thankfully the front door opened so Bucky shut the closet door and headed downstairs, probably assuming the person entering was somehow Steve. Steve leaned against the wall and took deep breaths, calming himself down before slowly slipping out of the blankets. He opened the door slowly, expecting to see Bucky there. He slinked down the hallway, stopping near the top of the stairs when he heard voices.

"Steve's hiding somewhere, he ain't gonna come out if you're stomping around." Bucky grumbled.

"Steve's here?!" Becca asked loudly. "I want to play hide and seek with you and Steve!"

"No. You just told me that ma sent you here to change. You're covered in mashed potatoes, Bec. Now go so you can get back to work!"

Steve scrambled into the nearest door when he heard footsteps reaching the stairs. He kept his back against the door and listened as Becca walked past it and muttered complaints to herself. He waited for a door to open and shut before switching on the lights. He guessed it was Bucky's simply from the sight of ribbons and trophies displayed on shelves. He tiptoed closer to the shelves, noting they were all Bucky's. The giant bed was a mess of dark colored blankets and various sized pillows. He managed to walk over to it without kicking aside clothes so he was already amazed by how much cleaner it was compared to his own room. He sat on the edge of the bed and closed his eyes as he laid back. It was the most comfortable bed he had ever been on.

The door opened which pulled him from his thoughts of the room as he quickly slid off the bed and went under it. He saw Bucky's sock covered feet wander around the room. He froze when Bucky stood at the foot of the bed, wiggling his toes as he stood.

"I know you're in here, Steve." He said softly.

Steve covered his mouth with his hands and stared at Bucky's ridiculous fuzzy socks.

"I know you were in the closet earlier. Ma always has perfect stacks in there, no tilting what so ever. But I know you're in here simply because I don't leave my light on. Rookie mistake." Bucky teased as he prowled around the room.

Steve figured he already knew he was under the bed, he just wanted to play a little cat and mouse. He tried his best to stay still and not breathe too loud as he watched Bucky look around the room. Honestly there was only three places in his bedroom to hide; the closet, the connected bathroom, or under the bed were the only places a person could fit. He slowly wiggled his way to the other side of the bed as Bucky grew closer. He actually forgot why he was hiding in the first place but he had started it and was forcing Bucky to end it.

"Gotcha!" Bucky said as he looked under the bed.

All he saw was a pair of socked feet as Steve ran out the bedroom, slamming the bedroom door behind him. Steve laughed as he ran back downstairs, deciding he was ending the game and sat down at the dinner table, resting his head against the cold wood. Becca was standing in the kitchen and stared in shock as Steve had run past him.

"You're really good at this game. Usually we'd already go through two rotations of who's it. This isn't even your house and it's like you know all the secret hiding spots." Becca said as she dug through the fridge.

"I hid from my mom when I was little because I was always sick but hated medicine. I'm just good at thinking on my feet." Steve hummed.

Bucky stomped into the kitchen with a pout. "Bec, have you seen Steve? He's too good at this game."

Becca pointed to the dining room table and Bucky's eyes followed. They went wide when they saw Steve before he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Have you been there this whole time?"

"No. You knew where I was both times."

"I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy."

"I mean you are." Becca said as she shut the fridge door.

"You stay outta this." Bucky said with a pout as he sat down across from Steve.

"I'm going back to work. Don't burn the house down." 

"Have fun. Don't get kidnapped."

"I hope I do so I never have to see you again."

"You're the worst sister ever."

"You're the dumbest brother ever."

Steve snorted as Becca slammed the front door shut. Bucky just smiled and looked at Steve.

"Gotta love sibling love."

"I'm only child so."

Bucky nodded thoughtfully. "Lucky."

"You know what else I'm lucky about?"

"Hmm?"

"Not having a criminal record! What is yours! You can't hide this forever, Bucket!"

"I thought you dropped that you ass! Stop asking!"

Steve slammed his hands against the table, startling Bucky. "My mother has a fragile heart and learning her only baby is friends with a criminal will kill her!"

Bucky raised an eyebrow at Steve before the blond burst into laughter. Bucky didn't laugh though and just allowed Steve to realize that before stopping abruptly and clearing his throat.

"I didn't murder anyone. I'm not really a criminal." 

"You said you had a record you ass. Tell me about it or I will leave."

Bucky rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair. "So a kid trespasses a little and maybe steals a little. I'm not a felon, Steve. Just a dumb kid who got roped into the wrong crowd. Happens. I haven't even hung out with them since we did the dumb baby thing. I told them getting a good grade was more important and then just ignored them. Still am ignoring them. I can't have my new best friend tell his mom he's friends with a criminal and never get to see him again."

Steve snorted and leaned on his elbows on the table. "So what'd you steal? Where did you trespass?"

"That isn't how this game works. It's my turn to get answers about your past."

Steve straightened in his seat and paled. Luckily his phone began to go off in his pocket so he scrambled to answer it. "Hello? No mom I did fold all my clothes before leaving the house... Okay I didn't fold them but I got them all washed!" He was quiet for a moment and Bucky could hear his mom over the phone scolding him. "Yeah, fine. I'll come back and fold them. My bad. Love you too. Bye."

"Don't think you can weasel outta that question just because you have to go home, punk."

Steve stuck his tongue out and stood from the chair. "Just take me home, jerk."

So he did. He didn't push about Steve's weird thought earlier. He figured he could just ask Natasha and Clint. Hopefully they would answer since he was getting nothing out of the pretty boy that started fights but couldn't end them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness. That was a very long break from writing. This isn't exactly how I wanted things to go but I can always add what I wanted to the next chapter. Honestly this is why I like to write the whole thing and then start uploading but something made me start posting so then you know you can't just quit. Anyways, thanks for reading <3 I love you all.


	9. Sunny D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote the title while I was enjoying a glass of Sunny D with the plans to change it after I figured out what the chapter was about. Obviously I kept it and worked with it. It's a really short chapter and I'm sorry for that.

Bucky narrowed his eyes at Becca from across the table. She was drinking the last of the Sunny D in her favorite pink cup that had, "World's Okayest Sister," printed on it in fancy letters and purple ink. Bucky had bought it for her on her birthday. It was really fitting for the moment.

"So. How's the Sunny D?" Bucky asked as he tapped a finger against the table.

"Really good. Sunny D usually is, but especially when it was the very last cup and you beat your sibling to it."

He nodded a little and picked up his fork, pushing around the eggs on his plate. "Yeah, I bet. How does it feel to actually get the last cup? I usually beat you to it."

"I feel like I won something. I feel like I need an award." Becca smiled and set the cup down on the table.

Bucky glanced at the cup before looking back up at her. They ate their breakfast in silence, Becca occasionally sipping her juice and Buck taking sips of his coffee. He had gotten the last of the creamer, Becca would usually complain about it until their mother got back from the store. She seemed content with it though for getting the last of the juice. Their mother didn't usually like to buy Sunny D since she said it had far too much sugar in it. Whenever she did buy it it was almost a competition to see who got more. Bucky waited until the glass was half full and stared at it. A noise was made in the living room by someone, Becca looked to see what it was. Bucky lunged across the table and snatched the cup.

"Hey!" Becca yelled when she turned back around.

She had lost the war as Bucky finished off the rest of the cup. There had been a little more than he had thought and was disappointed as some of the juice escaped his mouth and trickled down his chin. It didn't matter though. He had been the one to finish it. He always was. He exhaled in satisfaction once the cup was empty and set it down.

"You asshole! I can't believe you did that! That's fucking gross!"

"It's just germs. Not like we haven't shared anything else before."

"When we were children! I don't want your disgusting mouth on anything of mine!"

"My mouth isn't disgusting. It's no dirtier than yours."

Becca pretended to gag and picked up her half finished plate before storming up the stairs. Winnifred appeared in the kitchen and looked at Bucky, waiting to hear the door slam before raising an eyebrow at him.

"Do you really have to be like this?"

Bucky smiled innocently at his mother as he took a bite of toast. "My momma raised me like this."

"No, your momma raised you to respect your sister. Something along the way must have short circuited and now you're an asshole."

"To be fair, I always get the last of the Sunny D. She knows that."

"Mmhmm. And now you're grounded for it. Having yelling and swearing and door slamming is never in my list of things I want to hear before noon on any Sunday. No friends over for a week, you will only be driving to and from school, but to be nice I'll let you keep your phone just because I know you're in love with that little blond and I don't want to get in the way of that."

Bucky flushed and shoveled a forkful of eggs into his mouth as his mother walked away. He really didn't like everyone saying he was in love with Steve. He was eighteen. Did he even really know what love was? He quickly finished his plate before going upstairs, stopping by Becca's door. He stared at the obnoxiously sparkly R that hung on the white wood. Why she found the need to decorate her door along with her room was beyond him. He knocked their secret knock and waited for her to answer. The door was pulled open and he stared down at his sister who was pouting up at him.

"What do you want you douche bag?"

"Are you really resorting to such names because I drank the rest of your cup?"

"Yeah. I've never had the last cup. It felt rewarding to be downstairs before you to get it. And then you just fucking ripped it away to chug it. From my cup!"

"I'm sorry. You know how I am about routines. I always get the last cup. It felt weird not getting it."

"Well you should've felt something else before stealing my cup!" Becca said before slamming the door in his face.

Bucky frowned and opened the door, watching as she sat down at her desk to finish her breakfast. "Come on, Bec. I really am sorry."

"I don't care. Whatever mom punished you with will never be enough. You're lucky she has very strict rules about fighting or I'd be kicking your ass for waltzing into my room after I shut the door."

"I respect that. You have one free entry to my room to be even."

"Your room is dirty. I will never go in there. But thanks. Now get out."

Bucky nodded and did as she told before heading to his own bedroom. It was not dirty, neither of their rooms were. Winnifred was also strict about keeping spaces clean. He sat down at his desk and dug through his backpack to see if there was any homework he needed to do. His phone went off as he stared at his math book. He answered it without really looking at it, holding the phone close to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Buck you nerd," Natasha said over the phone, "this is a video, put the fucking phone down."

Bucky rolled his eyes and propped his phone up with whatever was nearby on his desk. Natasha was sitting against the headboard of her bed, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"What'd you call me for?"

"I dunno. Do you wanna hang out with me and Clint today? We're having a Disney night because Clint wants to watch Cinderella but I want to watch Lion King."

"Lion King is sad!" Clint yelled from somewhere out of view.

"Can't. Grounded. I pissed Becca off so now I can't do anything fun because she absolutely will not accept my apology."

"Bummer. Have you tried murder?" Natasha asked as she stared at something, presumably Clint.

"I have not. Seems extreme. She got the rest of the Sunny D but she knows I always get the last cup so when she was distracted I grabbed the cup and drank it. She threw a big fit about it.

"You threw a big fit about not getting the rest of the Sunny D." Clint offered.

"To be fair, fuck you." 

Natasha laughed and shook her head a little. "Whatever. Have fun being hella grounded. Steve was gonna come over but I guess you're trapped in Hell so. Bye bitch."

Bucky pouted as Natasha ended the call. Of course he'd miss watching Disney movies with his friends because Becca was a cry baby. He pouted as he continued on with his math homework, wondering which movie they were starting with. What movie had Steve picked? What movie would he have even picked if he could be there?

They had started with Lion King. Clint insisted they start with the "sad" movie before going on to anything else. Steve was draped across Natasha's bed, staring at the TV as the movie started. Natasha and Clint were cuddled up against the headboard, wrapped in a thick blanket since Nat's room was freezing. Steve had bundled himself up since his mom had told him he had to if he wanted to leave the house and had declined a blanket. His sweater alone was making him too hot but he knew he'd freeze without it on so he suffered. He had never watched Disney movies, or at least didn't remember watching them. He had always wanted to watch movies with dinosaurs over princesses. At least Lion King didn't have any princesses in it. He surprisingly liked it, he wasn't sure if he'd like it or not. By the end of it Clint and Natasha were arguing about what to watch next.

"You picked the first movie, I should pick." Nat argued.

"We watched your movie first!"

"I didn't want to watch it first! You picked it! It's my turn to pick a movie!"

"Maybe we should let Steve pick a movie!" Clint suggested.

"Do you want to pick a movie, Steve?!"

Steve blinked at their still loud and aggressive voices before whispering, "I can."

He rolled off the bed and headed to the big stack of movies. He picked The Fox and the Hound and sat down on the floor in front of the bed.

"Be prepared to cry Steve. This movie looks cute but it's heartbreaking." Clint said.

"Movies don't make me cry." Steve mumbled.

He was very wrong though. He did shed a few tears from the movie. He hadn't cried during Lion King like Clint did, but he felt like this movie had built it up more. They watched Treasure Planet next which didn't help Steve at all. They quit telling him the names after that and he'd just watch if he was paying attention. Bucky was texting him the entire time so he was only paying partial attention to the movies. He recognized Dumbo though since that was the only movie he'd watch that wasn't about dinosaurs. His mother used to sing him the lullaby and hearing it made him tear up. He was glad he was invited to movie night though, even if he wasn't fully paying attention. He fell asleep sitting against the bed, his phone against his stomach. Natasha covered him with a blanket and used his thumb to unlock his phone to text his mother that he'd be staying the night. She allowed it and told him she loved him. Nat felt weird texting for Steve but she sent the words back before setting his phone back on his stomach. She kissed the top of his head and moved him slowly so he was laying on his side inside of sitting up. Hopefully he would feel a little better waking up from the floor than he would sitting up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna be 100% honest with you guys, I have no idea where this fic is heading anymore. I didn't plan on uploading it and I don't really remember why I started. So I'll probably bullshit the end and write a sequel or something? I just. I don't know where to go anymore.


	10. The Rumor Come Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is inspired by a great article about Bruno Mars. There's a big ol' secret in this chapter coming out and I just like. If you didn't figure it out yourself that's fine I was trying to be sneaky about it. It's one of my biggest headcanons so if it isn't your cup of tea well. Sorry? Anyway, the clues will be in the notes at the end.

Steve picked nervously at his fingernails as he sat in the cafeteria. He didn't usually eat in here since it was too loud and crowded but Clint had talked him into it, promising to give him his dessert if it was something good. Steve didn't really care though, figuring he needed to hang out with his friends more to show them he appreciated them. His mother had made a passing comment about how he rarely went out with his friends and asked if everything was going okay. The thought had wormed itself into his brain and wouldn't leave. Was he a bad friend? Sure he was snarky all the time but they usually just snarked him back. And he was sick often so he couldn't go out anyways. At least he always answered calls and texts, his own mother didn't always answer.

But having that thought keep repeating in his head had forced him to sit at a sticky table with Clint and Natasha, watching as they ate whatever the school called food. He wasn't very hungry since he had snuck snacks into his last class. He made them feel better though and at least bought some kind of juice from the vending machine before they sat down.

"-and then I ended up falling face first into my birthday cake, ruining the entire party." Clint finished his long story with an over exaggerated hang gesture.

"Wasn't that the party Barney planned to do that and had made a spare cake?"

"Nope! You'd think ma would learn by now since he did it like four birthdays in a row. Sometimes I have nightmares about sitting in the shower and not being able to wash out all of the frosting."

"Sounds horrible." Natasha said with an eye roll before looking at Steve. "Hey, blondie, you okay?"

Steve quickly looked up from his nails to his friends. "What?"

"He's not okay." Clint said softly. "Trust me." He said with a grin.

"Don't bring MCR into this, Clint. I asked if you were okay."

"Oh." Steve said softly, wondering what MCR was. "Uh- Yeah. It's just loud."

"Let me tell you something about it being loud, Steven-" Clint started before being interrupted by Bucky sitting down next to Steve. 

"What'd I miss?" Bucky asked with an innocent smile, looking right at Clint.

"Clint fell into his birthday cake I guess and has nightmares about frosting hair." Steve said with a shrug.

"I think I was there for that one. White cake with purple frosting?"

"That was the one." Clint answered with a nod.

"That was traumatizing. First time I'd seen someone's head be pushed into a cake for real. I thought it was a movie thing."

Steve laughed and opened his juice, taking a small sip of it. "I'm sad I missed it."

"You were outta town for being sick. I remember it very well. Nat was also gone for this one because she was out of country, fancy girl went to Europe somewhere."

"I don't remember that at all but that doesn't mean much. Anytime one of us wrongs you you remember it forever. You're like a mean elephant that only remembers the bad."

"I remember everything!" Clint said almost manically.

Bucky glanced at Steve and Natasha before whispering, "I'm scared."

Natasha nodded in agreement as Steve laughed again. Clint had somewhere along the short meal turned off his hearing aids so he could, "Focus better on what he was eating," or something. Steve ended up giving his juice to Natasha because he didn't like it and she bought him a water to trade. Bucky told Natasha and Steve what had happened with Becca and why he hadn't been allowed to go to movie night. Steve thought it was weird they fought so much but he also didn't have any siblings so he had nothing to compare it to besides Clint and Barney who also fought frequently. Him and Natasha were kind of like siblings but they didn't live in the same house and have to see each other 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Steve wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle a sibling if all of them acted like his friends.

"Steve? Dude, stop spacing out. You're not an astronaut." Natasha teased as she threw a balled up napkin at him.

"I got too much going on in my head. The cafeteria freaks me out, sorry." Steve mumbled, throwing the napkin back at her.

"We can always eat somewhere else. Clint and I always sit in here so we figured we'd drag you in, but you're allowed to drag us out to eat where ever you usually do."

"I dunno. Then you guys would know my secret."

"Steven, come on. I know all your secrets." Nat said with a wink.

"Like what?" Bucky asked with his mouth full.

Natasha and Steve stared at each other. Steve felt like he had a wheel of excuses going around in his head, just waiting for it to fall on something so he could change the subject. Instead, they both said, "Gotta pee," at the same time and even stood from the table in sync. Clint turned his hearing aids on just to ask what the hell just happened but they were too far to answer. They stopped right outside the bathrooms and looked at each other.

"Did you really have to pee?" Steve asked.

"No. You?"

"Nope." Steve answered, popping the p in nope. 

"I won't tell him anything you don't already, Steve. I'm the only one that has known you that long."

"I just don't know when the right time to tell him is. Do I even need to tell him? Can't we go our entire lives without telling him?"

Natasha shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. "Probably, but if it's the reason you're pushing away his advances I'd say maybe you should tell him."

"That's not why I'm doing that! I'm just... Nervous. Nobody has taken an interest to me before. I mean, he took my first kiss. I feel like maybe he should know. See if I have a real chance or not..."

"You tell him when you're good and ready, sweetheart. You know I would die before telling anyone your secrets just like how you'd die for mine."

Steve smiled and held out his pinky. Natasha stared at his hand before giving in and hooking their pinkies together. They swayed their hands a little before pulling their pinkies away and hight fiving forwards and backwards. Their "secret" handshake with simple but it was theirs since childhood so it was still good. They walked back to the cafeteria to see Clint and Bucky trying to balance spoons on their noses. 

"I change my mind, let's go hide in the bathroom." Natasha said softly.

"I agree." Steve answered.

Luckily the bell rang so they picked up all their stuff and headed off to class. Steve thought about what Natasha had said. Was he really absentmindedly pushing away his advances? He had been shocked when Bucky kissed him, not expecting him to do it, but he couldn't think of another time where he pushed it away. Or maybe that was his brain telling him Nat was wrong and he wasn't pushing him away, he just really wasn't making passes at him. He didn't pay attention for the rest of the day because he was worried Nat had been right. When the final bell rang he walked out of the school like a ghost and stared straight ahead, still lost in his thoughts.

"Steve! Do you need a ride home?" Bucky asked as he wrapped an arm around Steve's shoulders.

"Uh- No, not-" He stopped himself. He really was pushing him away! "Let me see if my mom's here first."

"Will do. I'll help you look."

Luckily for Steve, she was not there and he eagerly accepted a ride home from Bucky who was rambling about how they nearly set the science room on fire during chemistry. A girl had gotten too close to the bunsen burner, saying it wasn't on because she couldn't see the flame, and the very tips of her hair had caught fire. They were able to put it out right away because the teacher was already on his way to tell her to move. 

"She was talking about how she wanted a haircut, I think she did it on purpose."

Steve shook his head. "Maybe. This is how things get taken away from us."

"Yeah! I can't bring in a water bottle that isn't clear into math because some kid snuck in alcohol. How shitty is that? I am forced to be parched just because one kid made a bad mistake."

"You are such a baby." Steve said with a laugh.

Bucky gasped loudly and clutched his chest with one hand. "I am not. That is so rude of you to say, Steven!"

"Why is everyone calling me Steven today? I feel like I'm going to explode if I hear it one more time."

"Now you're being dramatic... Steven." Bucky said with a shit eating grin.

Steve pulled on the door handle and tried to push the door open. Bucky yelled and grabbed Steve's hoodie sleeve. 

"Dude! This is a moving vehicle!"

"The door didn't open anyways."

"Jesus. You're just trying to kill me you dick."

Steve stuck his tongue out at him before looking out the window. "You passed my house like forever ago."

"Yeah I know. I figured we could just drive around for a little bit. Talk?"

Steve froze, his eyes glued to Bucky's reflection on the window. "About what?"

"I dunno. The weird shit you said at my house the other day?"

"I really don't think-"

"I told you my biggest secret. Nobody knows about my charges but my family and now you. I guess and the other kids I was with but still. It's not a lot of people."

"Well only five people know about mine." Steve mumbled.

"If you can't communicate with me-"

"Stop! Why is everyone telling me I can't communicate?! I'm not a bad friend!"

Bucky quiet for a while before whispering, "I know you aren't."

Steve noticed he had turned back around and was heading for his house. "It's not something I'm comfortable sharing, okay? I'm scared of how you will react. I was scared to tell Natasha and I've known her forever. We accidentally told Clint, that's how he knows."

"It's okay. Just tell me when you're ready I guess."

Steve gripped his hair and shook his head. "No, because now I feel bad because of how you were talking! I feel like a horrible person for not wanting every single person I meet to know about my past."

"It's fine, really!"

"You're coming inside when we get home. I'm telling you. Bastard."

"You really don't need to, Steve. If you want to keep it secret you can. I'm not gonna force you to do anything."

Steve let go of his hair. "No. You're finding out now because you're a pushy jerk."

"You're a pushy jerk. I was fine not pushing you about it. You pushed yourself."

Steve pouted for the rest of the ride to his house and as he stepped inside. He left Bucky at the door to go into his mother's room and grab the box of mementos she had shown him. He absolutely hated the box some days but he figured. Can't keep it a secret forever. He carried the box with him to the kitchen table and sat down, opening it and pulling stuff out. He pulled out the bloody shirt from when he stabbed himself at Natasha's, the letter from the theater that announced his ban, the ugly, pink cast from breaking his arm in second grade, the large scrapbook was on the very bottom underneath other souvenirs from his stupid accidents. 

"Why'd you get a pink cast?" Bucky asked, making his presence at the table known.

"Second grade."

"Great answer."

Steve rolled his eyes and went backwards in the scrapbook. He stopped at his fourteenth birthday, worried to go back anymore.

"You were so cute. Look at how long your hair was. My mom calls me hippie for letting it reach my chin, yours is almost to your shoulders."

"Yeah..." Steve said softly before continuing to turn the pages.

His thirteenth birthday had been a plain theme. He didn't do anything crazy, hadn't worn anything crazy. He wasn't really smiling in the picture either, his hair up in a high ponytail. Bucky studied the picture closely.

"Why is the name on the cake crossed out in Sharpie?"

"Doesn't say Steve." He answered hoarsely.

"What? Why not?"

Steve didn't answer, just went back again. His twelfth birthday had been purple. He wanted everything purple, he remembered that. His hair was in pigtails and the ends had been colored purple with chalk. He smiled slightly at the memory, wondering if he should dye his hair a crazy color before graduation. Bucky seemed more confused though.

"I'm so lost."

"Figured you would be. You're kinda dumb."

Steve went back a few more pages to his eighth birthday. He had on the pink cast that matched the frilly, pink dress. He nervously turned the book for Bucky to see. His eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the picture.

"So that's... You?"

Steve nodded a little.

"And you aren't playing some sort of elaborate trick on me?"

Steve shook his head, not trusting himself to find words. He ignored the pictures in between and went to when he had been born. There was so much pink. He did't know who had printed out the pictures but there was one with, "It's a girl!" on it in calligraphy letters. 

"Okay. I get it. You weren't Steve then, but you are now."

"Yeah."

"So your mom, Natasha, and Clint know. Who are the other two?"

"Well me, duh. And the doctor helping me."

Bucky nodded a little. "And Clint found out by accident?"

"Yeah. I was changing with the door shut and he said it was fine because we were both dudes and walked it. He was a little more loud about the whole thing. Yelling about how he was so sorry. It was a little traumatizing for both of us."

"But Nat has known forever?"

"She's in like every birthday picture. She was the first to know. We figured out how to tell my mom and she just laughed and said we were silly for worrying since she'd love me no matter what. We donated a lot of my clothes and I wore some of my dad's old stuff for a while until we could buy more."

Bucky nodded thoughtfully and took the scrapbook from Steve's loose hands, looking through it himself. "Well, I think you look a lot happier now. I'm glad you trusted me with this."

"Glad you trusted me with your secret too."

Bucky smiled and then looked at the rest of the stuff within the box, loving every story Steve told for each item. He especially loved the knife story because it was a really dumb thing to do and he told Steve he was going to ask Nat about it. Steve encouraged it since he didn't remember much from it, his brain had been muggy with pneumonia and all he remembered was Nat calling him to say got a new throwing knife set and they needed to try it. Sneaking out was where it got fuzzy and getting to her house goes blank. He's surprised he made it in the first place. Bucky shared some of his own childhood accidents, he had broken his wrist while sledding when he was eight, knocked out a tooth or two when he fell out of a tree trying to get Becca's kite down. They laughed at their childhood stupidity before admitting they were still doing stupid stuff because they had to get older, but growing up was optional.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wassup! Alright so here are the hints friends.  
> 1) In the second chapter Bucky notices that Steve only has pictures of his birthday after fourteen. There also aren't many baby pictures which I think would be strange considering he's an only child.  
> 2) Any time Bucky calls him his wife or Nikolas' mom he gets really pissy which isn't new but it's a little more than usual.  
> 3) In chapter 6 he says he wants to adopt even though earlier in chapter 2 he doesn't mention adoption, he talks about having his own kids. He also tells the teacher that he's not having babies when asked if he learned anything.  
> 4) Also the thing in chapter 6 about him not really having a middle name, I feel like he'd think that's too extra and wouldn't give himself one or if he truly did he'd use his dad's name but Steven Joseph doesn't sound too great in my opinion.  
> 5) Getting a pink cast when he was in the second grade.  
> 6) The whole thing with the dolls in chapter 8 guys. Like. I think that was my most obvious hint and I thought it was hilarious while I was writing it. "What five-year old girl-" and then immediately gets defensive and runs away.   
> I thought I had a few more but I thought wrong. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I think I'll do one more to finish it off and call it a fic. I have so many I'm working on right now so I'm sorry this one takes forever to update. I'm just a really slow writer and college is a mess.


	11. New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look! It's over! I ended a fic! I'm so proud! It's a really short end though! Sorry!

Graduation came and went. Steve and Bucky never stated officially they were dating but clearly were. Natasha told them they could just say it was when they got Nikolas. Clint had shot water out of his nose from how hard he had laughed at that. Nobody else thought it was as funny as him but they all laughed at him for shooting water out of his nose. Steve, Bucky, and Natasha had all been accepted into the same college and Clint had made a joke about getting into clown school. Clint was someone that was not made to sit around all day to learn stuff he didn't care about, it honestly wasn't a surprise when he finally told them he hadn't applied anywhere but expected them to be back whenever they could be to see him. They made sure to be with each other as much as they could that summer without getting tired of being around just their group.

Natasha had shown Steve her collection of stuff from whenever she was around for him to do stupid stuff. He thought it was hilarious she had put the throwing knife into a baggie and put it in the box. It looked like evidence from a crime with the blood still on it. She had a tooth he lost when he tried to ride a laundry basket down her stairs. There were a few pictures of him doing stupid things too. His favorite picture was him hanging upside down on the monkey bars at the park they always went to and then the picture right after it of him falling on to his face. He had given himself a busted lip and bloody nose from that. 

Clint snuck Steve into the movies by giving him a disguise that either worked because it was actually good or because the staff had given up. They tried a few more times before Steve walked in without one. He guessed it was the disguises because he wasn't allowed to purchase a ticket. Clint had laughed himself to tears when they straight up told him to leave the line. They spent a lot of time in Clint's room playing video games. Clint had something about starting a YouTube channel of him playing games and Steve screamed about why he should. Clint had zero content to post but made the channel for future use and Steve was his first subscriber. They had laughed about that and tried to film them playing Mario Maker but Steve had got too frustrated on the level he said he needed to finish and Clint said he wasn't gonna have swears so Steve was banned from recording.

Bucky and Steve hung out the most. Nobody was surprised by that. They were both taking a medical route so they talked about the classes they needed to take and talked about their expensive books. They talked about their roommates they were assigned. Steve got a single room only because the college was concerned about his "gender alignment" which made him laugh more than anything he had ever seen before but he was happy about that. Bucky was roomed with a science kid name Tony Stark. They had been texting each other since they found out and seemed to get along fine. They did a lot of fake fighting which Steve thought was funny. Bucky had told Tony about Steve and Tony got along with the blond than him. 

Steve was happy he had also befriended Sam the rest of their senior year since they had a lot in common. Sam had occasionally joined him and Clint to the movies. Sam learned those two in a movie together was a horrible mistake because Clint was deaf and Steve was hard of hearing so most of it was, "What did they say?" He still went though because he didn't always mind but he figured out later they were doing it on purpose. Clint would turn his hearing aids off and then practically shout, "What'd they say, Sammy?" which made the people in the theater ridiculously pissed. They had also been escorted out because Clint had done it three more times with Steve occasionally yelling something back at him. More often than not they'd go to Sam's house to watch movies because he had the biggest TV out of the three and always made sure to turn subtitles on because he was not going to be yelled at in his own house.

Steve hadn't enjoyed the stupid baby project at all, but it had shown him a little more about the people around him. He was happy now that him and Bucky had been assigned partners and would still occasionally address him as Bucket whenever he was deserving of it. He had glad Sam had made an effort to be his friend even though he was difficult to be around. He was happy with Nat and Clint bringing him into more of the stuff they did together. He loved when they'd all get together for movie night. 

Sarah was happier than Steve though. She was so happy to see her son finally having friends and going out with them. She was happy she had found someone that cared for him and always checked up on him whenever he didn't feel good. She didn't know how she ended up with such a great son, but what baffled her the most was how Steve had gotten such good friends. She knew he was a stubborn little shit and had always been worried about him never having friend as he grew up trying to fight anyone in his sight. Seeing her son surrounded by people that loved him warmed her heart to no end. 

Steve had cried at college when Sarah finally had to leave. He didn't want to leave her but he kind of needed to. Bucky just laughed at them until his family came to tell him goodbye and he had cried too. Natasha didn't laugh at them but they sensed she was judging them. College was a place for new beginnings. There was only one thing to do now and that was survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was an absolute cop out of an ending! I've also been listening to too much Be More Chill! I'm really sorry if this ending wasn't how you expected but it wasn't what I expected either. I'm just glad it's over. Adding to my list of finished multiple chapter fics makes me cry because I feel accomplished no matter how bad it is.


End file.
